They Stood Together
by knoeller45
Summary: Saren has been defeated, but for Jon Shepard and his younger sister, Quinn, the fight is just beginning. The Shepard siblings must now put together the strongest team the galaxy has ever seen to defeat the most advanced force they have ever encountered, the collectors. Loosely follows ME2 canon
1. Fear

**Hey everybody thanks for reading, this is my first fanfic so there is your warning. I do plan for this to be an ongoing story preferably a trilogy spanning from Mass Effect 2 and beyond Mass Effect 3. I will follow canon but only in major situations and settings, for the most part it will be pretty loosely followed. Hope you like Quinn and please please please review, Bosh'tets.**

* * *

_Fear, it was the only thing keeping him from giving up, not his fear, but hers. Jon __could see it in her emerald green eyes as she looked up at him for answers, an __explanation, a plan to fix it all, the tiniest glimmer of hope was all her eyes were __asking for. All he could offer her was his insignificant protection. Jon was just as afraid __as her, but he knew he needed to keep his composure else they would end up __like everybody else in the colony; dead, or being enslaved. It had been five __minutes since Jon's mother and father had put him and his little sister into the __small hidden compartment in the living room wall of their pre-fab. The room __barely allowed sufficient room for the two children to sit down, with no decorations on the metallic walls and contained one solitary dim light. Jon could hear the aliens enter his home as he and Quinn stood like statues next to each other, paralyzed in fear. To him it sounded as if there were three invaders, but he wasn't sure. Jon could hear their heavy booted feet make low thuds across the carpet, sounding like the beats of a drum as they rapidly moved across the floor scanning for victims. A set of feet began to make their way up the stairs, in the same direction his parents had fled not too long ago._

_Jon began to gain a little optimism that his parents had managed to hide from the brutal __aliens as well. That glimmer of hope was quickly shattered when a single gunshot rang throughout the house, followed by the screaming of a human man on the second floor, accompanied by an outcry of terror clearly belonging to a woman. He could feel Quinn tense up in his arms as she held back the urge to scream out for their injured father. He tried to think of what to do as his heart rate increased and his blood began to pump even faster; pure adrenaline started working his way into his veins. He had never felt fear like this before but he didn't show it. He determined the situation could not get any worse until he heard his mother scream from above as he heard the thud of heavy boots work their way down the stairs with what sounded like his mother thrashing her body; doing everything in her power to break free of the aliens strong grip. Both of his parents had been found and he concentrated to the foreign people speak in their guttural language, unsure of what they were saying. A few Moments passed before Jon could no longer hear the sobbing of his mother nor the aliens and their heavy armor._

'_They took her and killed dad'. His body was in complete shock, he wanted to do_

_something, he needed to do something. Saving his mother was the only thing he could think of, but he knew he couldn't, he knew he had to keep Quinn safe. He thought back to when his parents put him and his sister in the compartment, right before closing the door his mother had told him "Keep Q safe, okay Penny?" she said, staring at him with tears welling up in her eyes. He kept those last words in his mind and kept thinking it over and over in his head. The steady staccato of assault rifles could still be heard in the distance and he knew Quinn could hear it too. He looked back down at her jeweled eyes, expecting to see the same fear that he witnessed not too long ago, instead concern and worry invaded her young complexion. Only then did he realize that he had failed in keeping his composure. His cheeks were __wet with tears and his entire body was trembling, including the arm that was gripped __around his little sister._

"_We're gonna be okay Penny, you always keep us safe," Quinn stated confidently, her melodic voice was now laced with tension and sorrow. The use of his childhood pet name only worsened the situation, occurring to him the finality of never having his father use the nickname again. _

_Still slightly catatonic from the entire encounter, and with his body exhausted from_

_the adrenaline, Jon buried his nose into the crook of his sisters neck and began to cry uncontrollably. He knew the enormity of being silent was key to living, and he did his best, but it did not stop him as tears continued to run down his cheeks and sobs catching in his throat. He was barely concerned for his safety anymore, the thought of having lost everything made him feel devastated and alone._

"_I'm scared too, Jon. But at least we're together," Quinn whispered, reaching around her brothers much broader shoulders with her slim arms._

_Seconds passed and his breathing began to even out, his mind cleared of the dark thoughts that had affected his focus. He returned the hug, that small gesture meaning the entire galaxy to him as it reminded to him of the pieces that were still intact._

"_Don't be scared Q, you're right we are going to be okay, we just need to stay __here until help arrives, we're not in this alone." Jon stated with his new found __confidence, truthfully he was just as terrified as she was but it was better to lead his sister into a calmer state._

_Quinn didn't reply she only made brief eye contact with him, showing admiration __and confidence in him before settling back down with her knees tucked up under __her chin, her sun speckled eyes staring back towards the door they both prayed nobody would open._

_Eventually Jon followed suit and relaxed his back against the cool metal, sweat causing his clothes to stick to his skin. After getting as comfortable as he could in the cramped room, Quinn leaned her head on his shoulder._

"_Are we ever going to see mommy and daddy again?" Quinn timidly asked._

_Jon knew the answer, he knew who those aliens were and why they took __everybody but he had no idea how to tell his five year old sister that their parents __were either dead or slaves of the batarians now._

'_What ten year old would know how to explain that anyways? I can't lie to her and __give her false hope but I need to keep her going' Jon thought to himself with __frustration._

"_I don't think so Quinn, but maybe if the alliance shows up in time they can save __everybody from the colony including mom and dad." He knew that was not likely, __he had seen the news reports about other colonies being completely empty without a __sign of the batarians before the Alliance had even shown up, he figured his home __wouldn't be any different_

"_Maybe Uncle David will be with them when they show up to save us, nothing __can stop him," she replied with admiration for their father's best friend, he wasn't a __blood relative by any means but he acted like an uncle to Jon and his little sister._

"_Maybe." he assured her confidently, gaining some slight optimism for the __situation himself when thinking about his idol, Quinn and Jon had always looked __up to members of the Alliance because of their uncle, David Anderson. The two __siblings were not obsessed with violence or action like most kids their age, they believed in following a more worthy legacy in the Alliance, to help and protect people like Anderson did._

'_What if they don't show up at all?' Panic worked through his barriers and he was forced to take short, steady breaths. 'Nothing we can do about it now, we'll wait __till all the screaming and gunfire stops then we can try and call Uncle David.' The eldest thought easily to calm his nerves._

_Unsure of what else to say, brother and sister laid back on one another equally for support and comfort as quite ensued between them until they both were asleep. It was as if their bodies were aware of the enormity of having each other for survival, to keep on going throughout the nightmare of machine gun fire, the wretched grunts, laughs, and war cries of the aliens, and as the screams of all the people they knew began to dwindle in number throughout the night._

* * *

Fear, it was the one thing still on Shepard's mind as the obnoxious voice of the Normandy SR1's VI woke him, asking him something he could not quite understand.

_Can this stupid thing at least make sure I'm awake before asking me fucking __questions, just once?_ He thought to himself with a growing frustration as he pressed down against the mattress and sat up on the oversized bed, not remembering how he got there in the first place. The memory quickly played back in his head as he started to recall the last event he remembered.

* * *

_He was sitting by Tali as this had become his regular post. Chakwas and Quinnwere talking quietly between each other on the opposite end of the med bay. He recalled Chakwas approaching him earlier and telling him that he needed to sleep or else she would put him down herself._

"_I'll sleep later Doc." Jon had said with dismissal, only causing more frustration for the_

_motherly figure, her current stance being perfect evidence of her attitude. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at his reply._

"_Very well, this is the third time today so don't say I didn't tell you. Quinn it's time for plan B." her British voice chimed out calmly and assertively as she turned back around to check Tali's readings for the sake of being thorough._

_What Jon hadn't been paying attention too was Quinn stepping quietly towards him from behind, preparing a syringe. It was too late before he realized it was all a distraction as Quinn pressed the needle into the base of his neck, injected the fast acting __concoction._

"_Goodnight, Penny." a familiar voice whispered, followed by steps moving towards the same direction Chakwas had left in._

_Within five seconds his motor control was rendered inert along with his verbal __capabilities reduced to mere murmurs. After ten seconds he closed his eyes and __succumbed to the drug._

* * *

"Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Helmsman Moreau is currently hailing you from the bridge, would you like to be patched through via the comm system?" the VI restated, completely unaware of it's intrusion.

"Patch me through." Jon said, coming back to the present with a little more patience now that he actually knew what the program wanted.

"Hey Commander, did you get your beauty sleep? You're starting to look a bit rough in the face lately." The cocky pilot quickly jabbed over the comm system in Shepard's cabin.

_Well he's not wrong_, Jon considered as he was looking into the mirror on the wall as he slipped into a fresh pair of clothes. He hadn't shaved in over a week and his usually blue eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, his face looking more gaunt than usual. He knew why he looked like this and so did everybody on the ship with a brain. While his facial features currently appeared as if he was a red sand addict, his body still proved otherwise. Jon stood well over six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds. His body represented the ideal Alliance navy marine with ease, something he had been training to be since he was only ten years old.

"Any luck on finding them while I was out?" He retorted, quickly indicating he was not in the mood for humor. Fully clothed Jon knew exactly where he was going and rolled his shoulders back as he strode to the exit of his dimly lit cabin, but was cut short when he hit the haptic interface of the door. Instead of turning green and the familiar hiss of the door sliding open, the interface turned red and beeped at him with two short tones indicating the door was locked.

_God damn't, Quinn first you tranq me and somehow manage to drag me to my __cabin, but now you've locked me in it? On my own fucking ship nonetheless._ Jon was becoming frustrated with his genius of a sister even though he was aware she did it all with good intentions.

"Nothing, Shepard, the flotilla isn't exactly easy to find, and forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I doubt it's likely that they'll reveal the whole fleet if we send out a message asking for medical attention for one Quarian, admirals daughter or not." The pilot replied with much less humor in his voice, understanding the sensitivity of the subject. He also comprehended that pissing off either of the Shepard siblings was a bad life choice. Saren, the rogue spectre, being the most recent proof of that.

Grimacing at the bad news, Shepard replied, strain and frustration becoming evident in his face as he sighed. "Well keep looking, I trust Quinn and Chakwas can take care of her but she would be much better off with a Quarian doctor looking after her, somebody who actually understands her physiology completely."

"Aye Aye Commander, We'll keep looking." Joker stated confidently and, almost, professionally before cutting the comm.

Jon tested the door once more, attempting to hack the interface with his omni-tool.

_Here I am, Jon Lincoln Shepard, the first human spectre, and Commander of the __Alliance systems navy, 'Hero of the Citadel' and I have now been demoted by my kid sister to hack my way through a program that she set up on my own cabin door on my own __ship. What an inspiring figure I she's not really a kid anymore, after all she did graduate from med school five years younger than most.' _Shepard thought to himself what Tali would think of this situation if she were here. _Probably call me a __big stupid boshtet, push me aside and do it herself in half of the time it would take __me to bypass it._

The first human spectre and arguably one of the most respected and feared human in the galaxy allowed himself a smile thinking about Tali and how her presence always uplifted him. Even when she was timid when she first joined up with the Normandy, she had slowly grew into a confident and extremely talented engineer and technician. She was even there to comfort him after Ashley's sacrifice; something he still blamed himself for. _Forget about all that, she doesn't know how you feel and if she did it wouldn't matter. She'll be going back home anyways and you'll never see her again._ He found himself worrying about her constantly and knew why, he had known for quite some time now that his bond with Tali was different than his bond with the rest of the crewmates. He constantly found himself down in engineering with her between missions, discussing trivial subjects ranging from her species' history to his interest in classic video games and movies. It wasn't long after that before he found himself thinking about how he missed hearing her accented voice which he hadn't heard since the fight for the Citadel. Tali had been severely injured by a piece of debris from Sovereign after the combined forces of the Alliance and C-sec fleet had destroyed it. A week had passed and she still lay unconscious with constant care under Doctor Chakwas and Quinn. Jon was in command of desperately attempting to contact the Quarian fleet for medical attention but there was no such luck, the leading theory was that the flotilla had gone into hiding, afraid their people would be targeted by those grief-stricken by the Battle of the Citadel who would blame the creators of the Geth for the tragedy. Thinking about Tali's health made Jon even more impatient and discomfited with his sister for locking him in, an attempt to make sure he got some sleep, something he had very little of in the past few weeks.

He quickly gave up on the endeavour of hacking his way through the complex algorithm, Jon stood up and sighed in resignation. "Better hope somebody comes and lets me out soon Quinn, biotically unhinging the door will be a pain in the ass and might nearly kill me but then I'll be really pissed."

As if Jon's statement had been heard by somebody, the cabin door slid open in front of him to reveal a single human. They stood short in comparison to his almost six and a half feet tall broad shouldered body. She held her six foot tall frame in a confident stance, which represented that of an acrobat much better than what she truly was, a decorated war hero, easily the most skilled hand to hand combat personnel in the Alliance, and a genius xenobiologist and physician. Quinn looked up at Jon with certainty in her emerald eyes, the fear he remembered from that night no longer visible. Her shoulder length black hair was pulled back in a taught ponytail, while a lock of her bangs hung loose over her left temple.

"Morning Penny! How'd ya sleep?" The younger Shepard asked innocently with her usual uplifting voice

"Seriously Q? locking me in my own cabin? And you know I hate when you call me that when I'm not in a good mood." Jon retorted with more malice than he planned, he was frustrated with her but knew she was only doing it for the sake of his health, additionally they both knew he appreciated the nickname, regardless of how ridiculous it was. Accepting she was not going to be able to pretend the stunt she pulled last night would be forgotten, Quinn simply replied with,

"Well it was either that or…" she dragged on, a strained look appearing on her face as she willed herself to think of the most outlandish thing she could have done prior.

Jon masked a smile as she sat down at the table located at the center of his room. She rested her elbows up on the table and nestled her chin on the palms of her hands, thinking intensely of a good story as if she were a bored child.

_Just like mom._ He thought, watching as Quinns expressions reminded him of the ones his mother once made when coming up with fantastical bedtime tales for the siblings. His thoughts turned sharply away from his lost mother, Jon quickly held up the conversation.

"Or what?" He murmured before sliding into the seat across from her. "You'd have Wrex knock me out and drag me to bed instead?"

"No, that'd only be a good one if the second part wasn't actually the case." Quinn quipped, giving him her best smirk

Shepard's jaw slacked as his grin dropped off of his face instantly, his bloodshot eyes widening. "Wait, What? Wrex carried me to my bed? You got a krogan warlord to carry me like a baby?"

"Well I certainly can't carry you, you're way too big, Wrex and Garrus are the only ones who can carry you. So I chose Wrex, it was way better to watch," she grinned, casting her eyes up to the other. "Either way, thats not what I'm here to talk about" The glint of humor and excitement in her eyes began to fade away and was replaced with love and concern. Jon knew full well what was coming but he had no way of avoiding it. If there was an issue, or Quinn was concerned with his reckless behavior, she would make sure he heard it no matter what.

"Tali is going to be okay, her infections and allergic reactions have all worked their way through her system and her suit has been repaired. We're taking her off of her anesthetics now and she should be awake within a few hours, provided my understanding of her physiology is accurate, never taught us much about Quarian's in med school. Once she is awake though, She'll be able to tell us how to find her people, and you know what that means," she finished softly.

"It means she'll leave us." he replied somberly, doing his best to avoid displaying his feelings for Tali , but he had given up on that since Tali's injury and told Quinn everything.

"I don't want her to leave, I know it sounds so selfish. I've known that she'd leave eventually all along but it was different then, it was hard not to live in the moment when we were worried everything might end because of Saren."

"Then maybe you should tell her that you love her." Quinn stated matter of factly indicating that he had no room to deny it.

"Huh, if only it were that simple," he retorted easily.

"It is that simple, Jon, she loves you, trust me I can tell these things. I'm kind of awesome like that," Quinn said while picking her usual comedic and lighthearted tone again, gaining a sigh and eye roll from her brother.

"And I'm not going to tell you again, tell her how you feel or she most definitely will leave. Now I'm bored let's watch a vid or something to pass the time okay? Chakwas said she'll ping me when you can go see Tali."

Jons shoulders sagged slightly as he began to relax, unaware that they had been arched defensively in the first place, cheerful his sister was back to her regular self and no longer lecturing him.

"Thanks Q, sorry I snapped at you."

"It's okay Penny, that's what siblings are for."

They both stood up from the table together and pulled their chairs across the floor to the terminal on Jon's desk, which was fixed adjacent to his bed.

"Okay," Shepard muttered as the interface on his desktop lit up to display a picture taken a few days before Virmire, the ground squad of the Normandy had gone out to a bar on the Citadel during some downtime. Jon remembered Quinn asking a stranger to take the picture of all of them, but he didn't remember whose idea it was. He did, however, know he would be eternally grateful of whoever that crew member was because the picture captured not his crew, but his family.

The crew consisted of disparate races and allegiances yet they showed no signs of hatred or discomfort in the picture together. Wrex, the large krogan battlemaster had a large toothy grin with an even larger pitcher of alcohol in his hand and his other arm wrapped around the shoulders of Garrus, the troubled Turian sharpshooter sporting just as large of a grin as Wrex; happy to be with his friend. Ashley and Kaidan sat at the table with their necks craned to face the camera, their faces showing signs of relaxation and enjoyment ratherthan the usual stern lack of emotion they normally had. _I'm sorry Ashley, at least you had this night to live before Virmire._ Jon whispered to himself, his eyes showing shame and regret although he was aware that there was nothing in his power that he could've done to save her. Behind Kaidan and Ashley, from left to right, stood Liara. She wore a white asari version of a cocktail dress rather than her typical, boring lab coat. Instead of looking down studying an artifact, or performing a test on her omni-tool, she was looking directly at the camera with laughter in her blue eyes that resembled a mid winter sky. She also could not have been any more different than the person next to her, Tali, yet she stood next to her like a loving sister. The Asari were respected by everybody in the galaxy and could share themselves with any sapient being as they pleased. Yet, Tali was restricted from so much as showing her face to the person she loved, and while Liara had no problem entering the club that night the only reason Tali was admitted was because of Shepard using his spectre status to let her stood next to Liara as a friend, not as somebody who scorned her out of jealousy. Liara reciprocated she stood close to Tali, understanding the Quarian people weren't thieves and beggars, just misunderstood. Next to Tali's skinny and curved frame stood Jon, over half a foot taller than her and almost twice the width, showing as wide of a grin as Garrus and Wrex. Jon had a drink in his hand but wasn't looking at the camera. He was looking at the small Quarian girl next to him, adoration showing in his light blue eyes. What he hadn't realized at the time was that she was looking back at him, with just as much admiration. Her affection for the spectre could be seen through her stance, her body leaning towards his as if there was a magnetic force between them. On Jon's right stood Quinn, with the same hairstyle as always, accompanied with jeans and a sleeveless top showing which showed off her long legs and skinny arms. One arm hung loosely by her side while the other was around her big brothers shoulder. Her green eyes sparkling in the fluorescent lighting coming from above, displaying just as much comfort and happiness from being with her family. The group of aliens that started out as complete strangers looked and acted like a family more than most blood relative did in this picture. And unlike most groups of aliens in close quarters, they didn't fight, they didn't hurt each other, or ignore each other. Instead they showed support of each other for all their flaws, misunderstandings, and wrong-doings, they shared drinks and jokes, they appreciated each other and most importantly they didn't stand apart. They stood together.

"What do you want to watch?" Jon asked after taking a moment to appreciate the picture, knowing full well his sister was doing the same thing. He looked over at his sister sitting on the chair next to him with her knees tucked up to her chest and her eyes filled with excitement; She began to grin as she decided on what to watch, clearly overjoyed with all of her options. _Just like mom._ He silently thought, looking back at the screen and opening up his cache full of classic TV shows and movies that the two loved to watch ever since their childhood.

"I'm feeling some Supernatural right now."


	2. With Hearts on Their Sleeves

"We are way better siblings than Sam and Dean"

"I'm pretty sure all siblings are, but all the fandoms say they're 'so cute and adorable!' and all that so I guess that's why people liked them so much." The older Shepard replied with as much sarcasm in his voice as he could and pulling his hands up to his cheeks as if to imitate any fangirl in the galaxy.

His animated facade earning a laugh from his sister sitting next in the chair next to him as she had her head leaned against his shoulder. She looked up at him, with her bangs falling across her face.

_God, he looks like shit. _Jons hair appeared as if it hadn't been cut in a month, the once closely cropped brown hair now over an inch long and matted down to his forehead. His chin was even worse for wear, his sharp jawline was almost completely marred by uneven patches of stubble attempting desperately to represent a beard. _Still can't grow a beard bro, sorry._

"You are so not going to look like that when Tali wakes up" She stated firmly so that he would understand there was no other option. Her comment winning a puzzled face from him as he started to look over his outfit.

"What, my clothes look fine right?"

"Not what I was talking about. But now that you mention it your clothes look awful too, you need to cut your hair and shave...and shower." Quinn replied listing off all the things he needed to do, she had been too engrossed in the show or conversation with her brother before to realize how awful he looked. Now, though, she should see he had a lot of work to do.

She watched with a raised eyebrow as her brother brought his hand up to his face to feel his chin. His facial expression twisted into one of distaste as he brought the hand up to his matted hair, realizing how bad he probably looked.

"Okay, good idea." Jon said quickly, acknowledging how right Quinn was about his poor state of appearance.

He stood up without warning causing Quinn to have to quickly compensate for her loss of balance, placing her feet down and her hand on the chair Jon had just vacated. The quick placement of her booted foot and palm crashing down on the chair instigated a loud slapping noise causing Jon to look back at his sister while walking towards the mirror.

"What'd you do?" he asked with his best innocent voice as his sky blue eyes lit up with mischief

"Bitch" Quinn replied, without an ounce of malice in her voice as she narrowed her eyes knowing he would catch the reference. The older Shepard didn't miss a beat as he walked towards the bathroom door.

"Jerk" he shot back with a smile earning one from her as well as he hit the haptic interface to the bathroom and walked inside, a second later the door closed behind him leaving Quinn alone in the barren room.

Quinn waited to hear the shower in the bathroom turned on before dropping her carefully maintained facade. She had gotten just as little sleep as her brother since Tali had been injured.

She had kept Jon up to date on everything about Tali's health but had avoided telling him about her own, what she hadn't told him was that she was just as worried about Tali for his sake.

_Everybody but me, David, and Kahlee have left him. I can't let him lose Tali as well. _Quinn said the words to herself again as she had repeated to herself for the past week while trying to save the woman her brother loved.

Standing up from her chair, she raised her hands far above her head and hyperextended her back eliciting a series of satisfying pops from her vertebrae. Lowering her arms back down she let out a stifled yawn.

_Maybe I'll actually be able to sleep tonight. _The younger Shepard began her walk to the exit of the cabin. She hit the interface on the door and walked through the threshold. Expecting the usually eerie silence of the mess hall she was caught off guard by Kaidan greeting her from the table while eating an MRE. The human biotic waved at her with just enough enthusiasm to show he acknowledged her but not enough to indicate he wanted to talk to her, his face was straining and his eyebrows arched hinting that he was in pain. _Another headache, I wish there was something we could do, should probably just give him some space._

Quinn quickly lost her train of thought as she saw another figure out of the corner of her eye, adjusting her line of sight as she walked towards the kitchen of the mess hall she saw Liara bent over trifling through the locker on the wall next to the medbay. Quinn contemplated the idea of asking Liara what she was looking for seeing as she would know where whatever the item would be. Her more immature self got the better of her, however, as she leaned back against the counter next to Kaidan's terminal and began to open up a ration as she watched Liara's curvy form in front of her. _How on earth could you have turned that down Penny? _Quinn knew now that he had turned Liara down for an equally attractive woman but his loyalty and willpower surprised him. _If only she was into human females._

"Oh by the goddess, finally." Liara said to nobody in particular catching Kaidan's attention as well. Liara having found the item she had been frantically searching for stood up straight and walked back into the med-bay and towards her office in the back.

Deciding the entertainment was over, Quinn stood up off the counter and moved towards the elevator. _Maybe Garrus isn't working on the Mako for once. _She said to herself, hoping that was the case, now that she wasn't stuck in the medbay and her brother was occupied, to say she was bored was a massive understatement.

"In a hurry?" Kaidan questioned with a quizzical glance and raised eyebrow, seeing that the surgeon was leaving with an almost untouched meal still in her hand. Quinn gave him a toothy smile and turned to look at him as she left the room.

"Well, the eye candy left so I may as well also." She explained without any shame for admitting she had been checking out Liara. Her remark earned a chuckle from Kaidan as he decided to join in on the humor.

"Oh no, my pride! I'm not as attractive as an Asari!" She could hear Kaidan exclaim with feigned distress, causing her to smile and shake her head at how childish this entire crew could be. The younger Shepard entered the infamously slow elevator to the cargo bay and hit the down button on the interface.

* * *

"I swear to god, the Alliance is trying to drive us insane with this freaking elevator, it moves slower than an elcors sentence!" Quinn announced to Garrus as she stepped off of the elevator. Garrus responded as Quinn strolled towards him and Wrex who were sitting by the Mako, they were using a makeshift table out of crates to play some card game she could not identify.

"The council must be in on it too, remember all those fun elevator rides we got stuck on at the Citadel? Ahh...those were good times" His mandibles flexing outwards into a Turian grin.

"Yeah If you say so Vakarian, I do remember a certain Quarian, and a Krogan at that, reminding you of their shotguns in a lot of those elevator rides." Quinn countered as she dragged her own crate over to the table and sat down.

"Speaking of Quarians, how is she?" Wrex's gravelly voice pitched in. Quinn looked over at him with a surprised that he even bothered to ask. She responded after realizing that he was still waiting for an answer.

"She just woke up, probably talking to my brother now if I was to guess." Wrex harumphed and let out a chuckle, which sounded like a raucous laugh to the two smaller beings sitting with him.

"That's good she's okay. Had me worried there for a second." Wrex stated almost solemnly, looking down at his hands as if he was afraid to make eye contact.

Quinn could see Wrex's behavior was even being noticed by Garrus, who generally couldn't tell a flirt from an insult. Garrus leaned forward tilting his head to the side to try and make eye contact with the krogan warlord.

"Wrex? You okay?" The turians voice called out with concern for his comrade.

The red armored krogan looked back up and between Quinn and Garrus.

"You two are dumber than Varren sometimes." The two still stared at him waiting for an answer, not quite understanding what was bothering him. The Krogan let out a large sigh, annoyed that he would have to explain to them.

"You guys, this whole crew, are the closest thing to a real family to me." Quinn watched as Wrex spoke and he looked over her shoulder to the workbench next to the wall. The same one that Ashley was always working on her terminal or cleaning her arsenal of firearms at. Nobody had even touched the equipment and dismantled weapons on the table, it was undefiled by the regulars of the cargo bay as a memorial to their fallen friend.

"And I couldn't stand to lose any more of you, I've already lost my blood family so I don't plan on adding to that."

Garrus and Quinn sat in silence trying not to drop their jaw or flex their mandibles in awe at their confirmation of the murderous warlord actually having feelings.

Wrex sat idle for a few seconds before looking down at his hand and playing it confidently. Quinn figured he must have won because he then proceeded to drag all the chips in the center to his side of the table.

The silence resumed.

She wasn't sure what to say and was busy configuring a response to what was most likely the krogans first display of an emotion other than anger. She was cut short by Garrus who immediately tried to lighten the mood.

"Ahem...so am I the only one who found it strange that a krogan just called a turian his family?"

"Hah, it is a bit strange, and before all this with Saren I most likely would have beaten you to death with that stick up your ass. Now here we are, family." Wrex replied, he turned his neck to face Quinn.

"The places your brother brings us." He finished in his low gravelly voice, allowing himself to smirk as if in reminiscence. _Probably of when he was headbutting hundreds of geth like a maniac. I wonder if all krogan are like that in battle._

"Yeah, he can have that effect on people."

_I could get used to having a full family._

* * *

Jon stepped out of the doorway of his cabin and into the mess hall to find it abandoned all except for Kaidan, standing at his regular post working on his terminal. Normally he would have stopped to talk to his friend but he had other plans.

He had received the message from Chakwas informing him of Tali's condition right as he was finishing shaving and was on his way to see her now.

Shepard strode across the mess hall towards the med-bay giving a curt nod to his biotic friend as he passed.

"Commander." Kaidan replied in recognition returning the nod and looking back to his terminal typing away.

Reaching the door of the med-bay he kept his pace as the door slid open and he entered the stark room, his eyes immediately aligning with the same spot he had looked over Tali in for the past two weeks.

His eyesight was immediately rewarded with the comfort of seeing Tali twist her head to look at him as she heard him enter.

"Hey." he could barely hear her arabic sounding voice as she greeted him. _Good to hear that voice again._

"Hey, you had me worried there with that hit you took." he greeted her in response as he brought himself next to her bedside. His remark was rewarded with a weak laugh by Tali.

"I've been getting that a lot lately, but I feel fine for the most part. I should be ready to report to my duties by tomorrow if that's what you're worried about."

"You most certainly will not, you are staying on that bed for the next week at least." Jon and Tali both looked back at Chakwas who was standing with her arms crossed giving a stern look at the quarian as she explained the situation.

"You broke two of the three major bones in your right leg which are not completely healed by the way, tore a major artery in the same leg and got a major concussion. Not too mention the severe bruising to your spine that will cause unbearable amounts of pain if you spend too much time standing in the next few days." Jons eyebrows rose as he listened to the doctor list off the injuries.

"Yeah, you're not going anywhere." he added on as he looked back at the slim form on the bed next to him.

She set her head back in resignation and sighed. _I can't let her leave, Quinn is right I need to tell her. _

"Tali, I care about you too much to let you get hurt again. Your health is more important to me than your duties in engineering. I know your culture values working and always doing your job to maintain the safety of your ship, but Chakwas is right. You need to rest. Captains orders."

He tried his best not to stutter over his words as he said them softly and with care, something he was not use to.

"Okay but can we talk about something…" the quarian paused her voice becoming shaky as she began wringing her three fingered hands. The way she always did when nervous and the way Jon adored.

"...in private?" she finished while glancing over at the doctor sitting at her desk as if she was afraid of offending the motherly figure.

"Absolutely Tali." Looking over his shoulder he made eye contact with Chakwas and asked.

"Think you can give us a minute, doc?" Chakwas rolled her eyes dramatically as she rose from her seat.

"Take all the time you lovebirds need." She called out as she exited the med-bay and moved towards the mess hall. Her remark earning a glare from Shepard's icy blue eyes.

"Shepard, what's a lovebird?" Tali asked him with an innocent and confused voice.

_Good thing her translator couldn't pick that one up._

Jon turned his head back around facing her, he brought his hand up to the back of his neck, rubbing it like he always did when nervous.

"I'll tell you later. What did you want to talk about?" He watched as she visibly became more nervous, strafing her head about as if looking for eavesdroppers, her six digits found each other once again writhing about one another in their black gloves.

"I told myself I would tell you this after Virmire but then there was Ashley and I didn't want to put any pressure on you and then before Ilos but I got too nervous to really say it all because when I get nervous I start ranting because well it's a defense mechanism and a way of communicating because you can't see my face it is kind of like elcor having to state their inflections and emotions…"

She shot out each word in quick steady bursts reminding Shepard of how Salarians spoke. Seeing she was getting more and more embarrassed as she continued to try and explain he decided to stop her for her own sake.

"Tali, I feel the same way." Her escapade continued for a mere second before her mind registered what he had said.

"You...you do?" He shook his head in confirmation.

"I have since Noveria, I wanted to tell you but I wasn't sure how you felt. I didn't want to scare you off and have you return to the flotilla, it seems selfish but I guess I would have rathered you stay here with me than know how I feel." He shook his head at his stupidity as he explained his feelings to Tali.

"What we have, Tali, it's special and I would stop at nothing for it, for our bond." Tali could feel her cheeks burning at what he said. She couldn't believe that he actually felt this way for her, looking up at his blue eyes she could see what he said held nothing but the truth.

"I'm not sure what to say, Jon. I never thought you'd feel this way for me, I always told myself it was a fantasy because well of this." she said gesturing at her whole body, Jon quickly realized she was referring to her envirosuit.

"Tali, that doesn't matter to me and never will I love you for who you are as a person, I don't care if the suit gets in the way or I don't know what your face looks like." He replied in the most calming voice he could muster as he finally sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"You, love me?" her voice timidly questioned causing Jon's face to quickly redden as he realized what he had said. He started to panic that she didn't feel the same way.

Tali noticed the nervousness and quickly consoled him, reaching her hand out and wrapping her three digits around his five. He brought his blue eyes to her visored silver ones still not knowing what to say.

"It's okay Jon, I love you too." She chuckled as she realized how ironic it all was.

"Keelah, how could I not, a dashing commander saves an unknowing Quarian girl from the ominous agents of the shadow broker and brings her on his mission to save the galaxy." The human smiled as well letting himself laugh as well at the absurdity of it all.

"Sound's like the typical romance vid doesn't it?" he remarked sarcastically. Tali brought her eyes back to his, losing herself in them as she counted the colors and enjoyed the contact she had with his hand. Something she had never experienced before, the two were visibly more comfortable mentally and physically, simply holding hands and displaying their emotions.

"The places you bring us, Jon." she cooed calmly, her voice sounding melodic to his ears.

The two continued to talk, about their suppressed feelings and what had transpired since Tali's injury losing themselves in each others company and honesty.

By the time Chakwas re-entered the med-bay they were both asleep. Tali had moved her body to the edge of the bed she laid on and had her head leaning on the Spectres shoulder. Shepards head was in return, leaning on Tali's. The two of them looking more content than the doctor had ever seen them, they both looked perfectly happy even if she could not see Tali's face she was sure Shepard's content smirk spoke for both of them.

The doctor sighed at the sight and spoke to herself as she went back to her desk to fill out her daily reports.

"About damn time."

* * *

Jeff "Joker" Moreau sat at his usual seat at the helm of the Normandy SR-1 bridge. His usual baseball cap pulled firmly down on his head as always. The display in front of him put out the usual readings, there was nothing out there. Just like the five past systems they had searched.

"I still don't know what the hell the council was thinking with this whole 'Geth resistance' crap they told us to look out for. By their reports they should be swarming these systems and theres nothing." One of the bridge technicians called out from behind Jeff.

Joker shook his head in frustration and replied with his famous snarky personality.

"Well, if there is one thing we learned over the past few months. It's that we can't rely on the council for anything except for screwing up, I'd say they're at the top of the league there."

The banter continued for some time until eventually followed by the usual silence of the bridge as Joker navigated through the abandoned system. He found his brain on autopilot as he deftly manipulated the glowing orange interface in front of him without even registering what he was doing. He piloted the advanced warship with ease as if it was a simple shuttle car.

His stupor was interrupted by the warning signal from his interface indicating an unidentified vessel had exited FTL within range of the Normandy. He quickly called for a status report on the vessel and listened as the bridge members all tried to identify it.

"It must be the geth!" he heard Pressly yell out while looking at the reports himself.

Joker pulled up a long range camera view on the vessel that had been collected while the crew analyzed. His eyes widened at the strange outline of the ship, the long cylindrical ship looked as if it was pieced together by a hodge podge collection of ships, metal, and building scraps. While parts of it were completely jagged and severe other areas appeared smooth and almost organic, and in the very front of the cylinder an orange glow appeared to be growing in power and magnitude, as if it was charging up.

"It's not the geth! Brace for evasive maneuvers! Sound the alarm!"

* * *

**And there is chapter 2 everybody. Sorry if it seems choppy or anything I had a lot of trouble with this one because I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. Either way I'm really starting to get into this and I really need your reviews! So please please please review everybody, I really want to know what you think. Additionally, I desperately need beta-readers so feel free to PM me if you are at all interested in that. I've also decided to create a Quinn Shepard character on Mass Effect 3 character creation so you can get a better idea of what she looks like so you can expect to see that soon! Thanks for reading!**


	3. It's not the Geth

"It's not the geth! Brace for evasive maneuvers! Sound the alarm!"

The crew behind his chair immediately set to motion, strapping into their battle stations, analyzing and relaying information as their years of alliance training had taught them to do on a moments notice.

Joker put his hands at the ready on the interface waiting to maneuver as the other ship's main gun primed itself, preparing to fire at the Normandy. If the battle against Sovereign had taught him anything it was that attempting to dodge enemy cannon fire was only effective after discharge, else the enemy could easily compensate before firing.

Seeing his display light up with an impact trajectory warning he brought the Normandy into a roll towards its portside. The orange hued laser of the enemy weapon blazed through the space the Normandy had been in only a second earlier.

"VI! Patch me through to Shepard!" Joker screamed over the sound of the still ringing klaxon alarm as he altered course once again, barely dodging another salvo from the organic like ship.

"To which Shepard are you referring, Lieutenant Helmsman Moreau?" the ships VI enquired innocently. Joker let out a string of curses as he struggled to evade the enemies seemingly non-overheating weapons.

"God fucking damnit you stupid machine! Patch me through to Commander Shepard!"

* * *

"Joker! give me a status report!" Shepard had rushed to his cabin when the alarm sounded and had just finished donning his N7 armor. He listened to the pilots response as he ran back out into the mess hall.

"We're being attacked by an unidentified vessel. I can't keep dodging them like this, our shields are gone and if they hit us again we're as good as dead!" Jon quickly assessed the situation, he could tell Joker was tasked to his maximum capabilities, his voice sounded strained and panicked to the commander. He needed to make sure Joker didn't slip up, nor do anything rash in his current overwhelmed state.

Before he could reply a deafening crash echoed throughout the deck as the hull and structure of the entire ship groaned, as if it were being crushed. Jon quickly identified the location of the noise as the walls in front of his cabin entrance exploded inwards. The shockwave hit him in chest, compressing his lungs and throwing him back against the outer wall of the med-bay.

While his vision was blurred from the jarring impact of his head against the wall, he knew his helmet took the majority of the force. Jon let his alliance training kick in, reaching his right hand up to the back of his head, he checked for any compromises in his armor.

After finding his suit was still intact he rolled onto his knees to gain his balance before standing up.

His vision was still blurred and his ears were ringing from the explosion. Looking out in front of him he saw the mess hall was now engulfed in flames. The table and chairs had been thrown across the room and were shattered into multiple pieces. The walls and floors on the starboard side of the deck were completely decimated. The panels dislodged, blown off, or melted, leaving room for the intimidating electrical fires to creep through from the walls and onto the deck. The charred metallic fragments littered the ground in front of him as he moved over to the kitchen and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

Checking his omni-tool, he pulled up a program that analyzed the ships integrity to find that the starboard engine had been hit and completely destroyed.

_We can't take another hit like that, we need to evacuate. I'm not going to have this crew die on my watch._ He spoke to himself as he worked on the fires that were threatening to block the entrances to the escape pods on this floor. Jon entered the shipwide comm through his omni-tool to communicate with all the surviving crew members.

"This is Commander Shepard. Everybody needs to evacuate now! I repeat, everybody is to abandon their stations and evacuate immediately!" Jon ordered through the comm, he was immediately responded to by Joker.

"Negative commander I'm staying with her, I can keep her going I'm not losing the Normandy to some bug of a fucking ship!" Jons temper rose, instigated both by his now splitting headache and the adrenaline taking control of him.

"Don't be an idiot Joker, that's an order abandon the Normandy! NOW!" He screamed, his confident voice now replaced by one that would elicit fear from even the most hardened soldier.

The commander waited for Joker to acknowledge his order, no response came.

"God damn't Joker!"

He continued to try and hold the fire at bay as a group of six ran by him and into an escape pod, sealing the hatch and immediately ejecting from the ship. _Six saved, fifty more to go._ His grim thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling to him over the din of the fire and explosions.

"Jon!" Quinn haphazardly ran to him, avoiding the compromised floor panels as she moved towards him.

"Get in an escape pod Quinn! I need to go get Joker, he's refusing to abandon ship." The younger Shepard was about to protest when they heard two more female voices calling out to them, they looked back to the med-bay to see Chakwas and Tali.

Tali was still unable to move by herself due to her injuries. There was a large limp visible in her leg and her head hung low, her eyes were squinted in what appeared to be immense pain. The Quarian had her arm wrapped around Chakwas' shoulder, who was supporting her as they moved across the deck. The pain must have been too much for Tali as her body collapsed, followed by Chakwas who couldn't support the weight anymore.

The siblings hastily relocated to the duo, Jon putting his shoulder under Tali's right shoulder and putting his hands behind her her knees as he scooped her up off of the floor. He was sure that she was only unconscious but he checked to make sure she was breathing. He let out a sigh of relief to see that the light body he cradled in his arms was still alive.

"I've got her. Get to the escape pod with them, they need medical attention." he ordered to Chakwas gesturing towards another group of crew members who were carrying a severely burnt woman to the escape pod. Her entire right side was charred almost black save the pieces of broken bone sticking out from her shattered arm, the woman must have been in shock since she wasn't screaming, just staring blankly while clutching at her marred arm as she was carted to the back of the deck.

Chakwas quickly responded to the order, nodding her head in acknowledgement as she ran off to join them with her large emergency medical bag strapped onto her back. Chakwas was the last one to enter the escape pod sealing the door behind her followed by the recognizable sound of the pod ejecting.

Jon glanced at Quinn then back down at Tali as he analyzed how he should go about continuing to evacuate.

_Joker is still at the helm, I need to get Tali out of here though._

"Take her and get out of here I'm going to get Joker!" He yelled out to Quinn as she continued to attempt to hail the pilot.

"No! I'm faster I'm going to get him." She yelled through her breather helmets speakers.

Before the commander had time to reason with his sister, she took the strap of her medical bag off from around her shoulder and placed it on the spectres neck before sprinting off around the back of the elevator and towards the stairs up to the CIC.

"Quinn!" He yelled after her but she wouldn't listen to him at this point. He considered going after her but was stopped short as he remembered the weight in his arms. Looking down at Tali he knew he had to at least get her to safety. Turning around he quickly moved to the last escape pod on the third deck, stepping inside he gently set Tali down on the seat and strapped her small frame into the harness.

He went back to the exit and peered out into the mess hall to check if there were any other crew members coming to evacuate. The deck was filled only with the burning wires, generators, and engines of the ship, grimacing at the lost of so many people he pulled his head back in and sealed the door.

Strapping himself into his own seat he hit the eject button on the interface while queuing up a direct comm link to his sister. His call was answered immediately by Quinn.

"Are you out of there yet?"

"Passing through the CIC now, or what's left of it that is." She responded almost calmly. Her melodic voice still held the usual upbeat tone to it but it was held in check with confidence.

"Stay safe and get out of there as soon as possible. Let me know when you're off of that ship."

"Yeah, that's the plan." She quipped back and cut the connection to continue her journey without any distractions. Jon thought about the attack and all the crew members that didn't make it out, a morose feeling overcame him as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

_How many need to die before this is over?_ He let out a large sigh and lowered his head.

He looked back across to the slim figure across from him, his eyes softened as he watched her disorderly breathing. Her chest expanding and collapsing in short patterns as her body recovered from the pain it had just experienced. Her suit appeared intact but the realk covering her helmet and the rest of the cloth on her suit was charred or completely burnt off. Her enviro-suit appeared to be coated in ash and soot from the fires on the ship. He panicked as he saw the charring and burn marks realizing there must have been an explosion in the med-bay as well.

_I'm not losing you too, I only just got you, I don't care if I die doing it I'm going to make sure you and Quinn make it through this. _He quickly dismissed the thought though knowing that she had made it out okay. _You and Quinn both always have to have me worried don't you?_

* * *

Quinn cut the comm with her brother as she saw looked up through the gaping hole in the roof of the CIC revealing the galaxy before her. The space before her was littered with pieces of shrapnel, loose chairs, terminals, and wiring from the Normandy all floating aimlessly through the space outside of the ship. The stars of the Terminus system and beyond shining through in between the litter of the Normandys CIC. The burning fuselages of the ships escape pods could be seen shooting for the arctic planet the Normandy was currently passing by, their engines giving off a warm orange hue in contrast to the stark white of the planet beyond them.

The stars and the planet was not what caught the attention of Quinn as she strode towards the helm of the ship, her mag boots clamping down to the surface with each step so that she wouldn't end up spaced. What caught her attention was the behemoth enemy ship, longer than any Alliance dreadnought she knew of, coming back around for another attack.

Turning down the strength of the magnetism so that she could move faster. Quinn awkwardly jogged through the mass effect field containing the atmosphere in the helm to see Joker still sitting in his pilot seat trying to maneuver the ship still.

"Joker let's go, they're coming around for another attack!" She yelled her voice cracking as she hastily prepared the escape pod on the starboard wall of the ship.

"No, I can still get us out of here maybe bring us around for an attack! I'm not losing the Normandy." Quinn lost her temper, her eyes and nostrils flared with anger as she prepared to chastise him and drag him from his seat. Her anger subsided as she remembered the Normandy was his life and he wouldn't abandon what he worked so hard for.

"Jeff…" She said comfortingly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He stopped what he was doing and looked up in her, tears filled his eyes.

"The Normandy is lost, going down with her won't change anything. Now please, let's get out of here." He took a second to register what she was saying before he regretfully accepted the truth in what she was saying.

"Okay, help me up" Quinn grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him up out of his chair, supporting the majority of his weight so his frail legs didn't snap from moving too quickly.

She helped him step into the escape pod, before she could step in herself, she lost her balance as the ship groaned and shook again.

The enemies orange laser brought fire down onto the CIC cutting the ship completely in half, the heat fried the generator powering the mass effect field as well. With the loss of gravity, Quinn began to float and become disoriented at the sudden change, she felt her back against the portside wall opposite the escape pod. Before she could recover and push herself into the pod the orange laser cut through the helm between the pod and herself.

She heard Joker calling out to her but didn't register it. Her heartbeat began to rapidly increase, She could hear her blood pumping as adrenaline began to take hold while she panicked.

Knowing there was no way for her to make it to the escape pod as it would soon be completely separated from the rest of the helm, she also knew that if Joker didn't eject the pod soon he would die due to exposure to open space.

Acknowledging her only choice she pushed herself off of the wall with her acrobatic legs, diving off to the external escape pod interface on the wall. Grabbing it with both hands and bringing her feet down she regained her orientation and typed in the command.

Joker screamed out her name one more time before the door slammed shut and the pod ejected, sending him out into space and away from his home. Quinn let herself smile, knowing she at least saved Joker from death.

_Okay I've got half an hour worth of oxygen if I control my breath. _

Quinn started to push herself off from the interface and away from the orange laser still cutting the helm like a razor blade through tissue paper. Before she exited the remains of the ship, the laser hit a generator, causing a massive explosion in the front of the helm. The shockwave hit Quinn, sending her body careening back into the wall at an angle. Her back collided and caught on the corner of the wall and what felt like a steel beam of the ships structure. She quickly pushed herself off and into space before a second explosion claimed the rest of the hull, engulfing it in orange flames.

Quinn let out a sigh of relief at making it out in time. She watched from a distance as her home fell apart. The ship she had spent the past few months on, the ship she had made the best memories of her life on with her closest friends.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she saw it fall apart and hoped that all of her friends made it off of the ship. _At least Jon and Tali made it out. Now I just need to wait for help to arrive to come save my ass. _

Quinns HUD lit up with an alert message as she felt a loss of pressure behind her neck. She reached back, her eyes widening as she felt compressed air siphoning out into space.

_It must have been punctured during the explosion!_ Quinn began to panic and looked up to the oxygen levels displayed on her HUD. Instead of the thirty minutes she had read not long ago it now showed five.

Quinn immediately accepted her fate. She knew there was nothing to be done. Her oxygen was compromised and would leak out, leaving her to suffocate in space within five minutes. She didn't scream or cry or beg for her life, instead she pulled up her omni-tool as her armored body aimlessly floated through space, the wreck of the now derelict Normandy off in the distance.

Pulling up the proper program on her omni-tool she hit record and began to speak, knowing full well they would be her last words.


	4. The Unveiling

**Alright everybody I had a lot of trouble writing this one so I hope you like it. Lots of fluff ahead, just a heads up. Once again everybody please review I want your feedback!**

* * *

Quinn finished her second and final message, looking back at her oxygen readings as she shut down her omni-tool and lowered her arm.

_one minute._

She was still drifting away from the wreck of the Normandy, its shattered frame split apart into two pieces, the fires had been snuffed out by the lack of oxygen. The enemy ship had since gone into FTL and left, its mission complete. The Normandy destroyed and as far as the enemies were concerned its crew was dead.

Quinns breath began to strain as the oxygen ran out. Her life didn't flash before her eyes as so many people claimed it would. As she watched the time tick by her mind rushed through all the things she had never done.

_I've never been in love. I never got to see Jon settle down and get married. I haven't even thanked uncle David and Kahlee for taking care of us. _

Tears began to stream down her face as she looked out at the galaxy in front of her, the arctic world her body was moving towards. Even with her vision blurred it still looked beautiful to her.

_So many worlds I haven't seen, Garrus always said I would love Palaven._

Her emerald eyes drifted to the escape pods heading for the planet. She let herself smile at the thought of her older brother, how strong he always was for her while they grew up. She locked her thoughts onto her memories with Jon. Thinking about all the experiences they shared. When he came home from a tour in the Terminus systems to visit her on her eighteenth birthday. When she got accepted to med-school and he was more proud than she was. When he took her out for her first drink which then turned out into an all night bar-crawl.

The younger Shepard stayed in that state until her time ran out. Her eyes fixed on where she knew her brother, her idol, was sitting safely with the love of his life.

Her heads up display rang out indicating there was no oxygen left, her ragged breathing came to a halt, followed by silence. Her viridescent eyes locked onto the sight before her as her lifeless body drifted through space.

* * *

"_You okay, Tali?"_

_Her deep train of thought was derailed by his voice. The two were currently sitting at a table in the corner of a barely decorated bar on Noveria. The two both sat with their backs to a wall so they could watch the occupants of the room without having to turn around._

_She started to wring her wrists at having to explain what was wrong, she didn't want to burden her commander with her personal problems but he would see right through a lie._

_She made eye contact with him and saw that he wasn't frustrated with her or irritated. He looked legitimately concerned his eyes showing concern._

_Even through her purple visor she still felt herself overwhelmed by the emotion his lively blue eyes presented._

"_I still need a pilgrimage gift. Without one I can't return home to the fleet, you would think helping the first human spectre take down a rogue agent leading an army of geth would be good enough but my father doesn't approve of it. Especially the human spectre part." She watched as Jon carefully considered what she said while taking a sip from the cold drink in his hand._

"_Doesn't like humans huh?" Jon asked after setting his drink back down. Tali snorted at his unknowing curiosity._

"_Keelah, he doesn't like anybody, but if I can't find a way to prove to him that what we are doing here is useful, he is going to try and force me to return home." She looked back down at her hands, observing the details of her suit as she always did while deep in thought._

"_The only useful thing we have come across so far is that OSD of geth data but you would be breaching alliance and council protocol by releasing that to anybody." She finished solemnly as she continued to accept her fate to leave the first place she truly felt at home at since her mother died._

"_So?" She heard her commander ask with his usual confident voice. Seeing he had her attention he continued._

"_I'll give you a copy, there's no way your father can deny what we are doing if you show him that. I don't give a damn about the rules when it comes to my crew, I care about you Tali and I certainly don't want to lose you so soon. Afterall, you're a key component of this squad and have made this mission possible on numerous occasions, I'd say that warrants me breaking the rules for you." _

_After finishing, the spectre looked back out over the room, observing its varied occupants, all minding themselves and drinking quietly in the oversized room._

"_Shepard, I don't know what to say. That would make a perfect pilgrimage gift, I have no idea how to repay you for it though." Tali stuttered over her words nervously, surprised by how he spoke of her._

_She watched through her tinted visor as Jon peered back at her and smiled._

"_You already have, Tali. You made all of this possible, if it weren't for you we never would have been able to incriminate Saren and we would still be stuck on the Citadel. I owe you for that, and I'm starting to think that not just the quarian people but the whole galaxy will once we stop Saren."_

_With each word she felt her cheeks getting warmer and her stomach feeling lighter. Nobody had ever talked to her like that and he seemed so sincere while doing it. She found herself staring at him taking in his features with her head noticeably tilted. Her train of thought was thrown off by his voice again, one that she now found herself comforted by._

"_Tali?" his face was visibly confused and he tilted his head to try and make better eye contact with her._

"_Hm? oh sorry, daydreaming I suppose. Nobody has ever spoken about me like that is all, it means a lot to me. Thank you, Jon. I mean Shepard. thank you, Shepard. Keelah, I'm sorry I must seem like a complete wreck right now." She retorted quickly in sporadic bursts becoming more and more nervous and embarrassed not only what she was saying but also as she started to realize what she had been doing._

'_I wonder if he noticed me checking him out.' Her cheeks blushed again just at the thought of admiring her human commander and how embarrassing it was._

'_Calm down Tali, there is no way he noticed, and no way he would reciprocate. How could he want me anyways when I'm trapped in this suit?'_

_Jon only smiled and chuckled at her awkward display._

"_It's okay Tali, I don't mind you calling me Jon, I kind of like it actually. Also, everybody is a wreck right now, that's why were on shore leave so relax and enjoy yourself. Let's just have a drink and talk about something other than Saren and the geth for once."_

_Tali tilted her head back to indicate she was smiling._

"_I would like that...Jon." Shepard smiled back at her lifting his drink and taking another sip._

_The two continued their conversation for more than one drink, they found themselves at the bar for the rest of the night discussing trivial subjects about the galaxy and themselves._

_Tali found herself getting curious about Jon's childhood with Quinn as whenever that subject came up he always curtly changed the topic or turned it back around on her._

'_Maybe, I'll ask Quinn about their parents sometime. I wonder where they are if Jon never talks about them.'_

* * *

His entire body ached. Whether it was from the escape pods atmospheric re-entry and crash landing, or the explosion on the Normandy he couldn't tell.

The human spectre opened his eyes slowly, observing his surroundings. He was still strapped into the seat in the escape pod, Tali still in the seat across from him, her head leaning off the side limply indicating she was still unconscious. Her chest rising and falling at a more steady rate than it was before.

Jon lifted his harness of of him and stood up slowly and carefully to prevent himself from collapsing. His head was pounding and he could feel a welt forming on the back of his head. He deftly removed his helmet and placed it on his seat.

Shepard then carefully guided himself to the interface at the entrance to the pod, checking the status he saw that they had crash landed on the planet Alchera. He also noted that the emergency beacon was activated but giving off a weak signal.

Cursing to himself, realizing it would be a while before the alliance found him and Tali due to the escape pod he started to concoct a solution to strengthen the signal. He was interrupted by a noise of somebody groaning behind him.

"Jon, where are we? Where is Quinn and Chakwas?" Tali called out to him, her voice laced with pain and confusion as she undid her harness and gripped her leg, moaning in agony.

Jon moved back to her, kneeling at her side as he grabbed the medical bag that had been thrown throughout the cabin during their landing. He opened the bag and pulled out a medical field scanner, and brought it up to her leg.

"Alchera, Chakwas went with another group and Quinn went to get Joker." He answered somberly, the concern for his sister apparent in his voice. He felt a hand fall on his shoulder and remain there, he looked up from the device as it scanned her leg for any injuries under the suit.

"I'm sure she made it off okay, Jon. It is Quinn after all, nothing can stop her." She brought her hand up to his cheek, caressing her thumb along the front of his face. Her luminous eyes gazing at his through her visor.

"You Shepards are tough, it will take more than one ship to take either of you down." She finished in an attempt to comfort him, her voice while still strained with pain, still managed to calm him and warm his heart. He let out a small smile at her gesture and looked back down at the device seeing that the scan was complete, the smile on his face instantly disappeared as he read the results.

Tali, seeing his reaction knew the feedback was not good. She lowered her hand, bringing it back to her injured leg as if the touch alone would fix it.

"How bad is it?" she asked timidly. Jon looked up at her, his mind spinning trying to figure out how to inform her without making her panic. He couldn't think of anything.

"It's not good, Tali." He answered, deciding he needed to tell her he walked her through the report as honestly as possible.

"The bone in your leg broke again because it wasn't still fully healed, a piece of the bone tore through the main artery in your leg. Your suit already injected some medi-gel to slow the bleeding but no amount of medi-gel can stop an artery from bleeding out. If you don't get an arterial bypass shunt performed in the next twenty four hours you are going to die from blood loss."

Jon tried his best to keep a calm voice and not choke on his words, he knew panicking wouldn't help either his or Tali's situation. Externally he kept his Commander Shepard demeanor in check, internally his mind was self-destructing attempting to find a solution.

He figured that it would be at the very least four hours before another Alliance ship came to investigate, and judging by the weakness of the beacons signal it could be a day before the rescue teams managed to find them.

The news hit Tali like a brick, she managed to keep calm though and hold hope.

"Well the emergency beacon is active right? So we just wait for the Alliance to come and pick us up. I'm sure they will get here in time…" Before she finished she noticed Jon looking at her, his eyes showing no hope or confidence.

"...unless the beacon isn't working." She finished, picking up on his facial queue. Jon shook his head and explained.

"It's working, the signal is weak though. We'd be extremely lucky if they found us in the next twelve hours." Jon elaborated seeing that he wasn't helping the situation he concluded he needed to give her hope anyways even if he thought there was nothing to be done.

"I'm sure we can find some way to boost the signal though, I'm willing to bet you can figure something out being the tech genius you are." He faked a smile as he tried to give Tali and himself hope for her survival.

Tali let out a weak laugh at his compliment she reached across to him placing her hand on his shoulder.

"You're right, let's see what we can do." She pointed to a panel next to her with a single digit.

"Open that for me and let this 'tech genius' do her work. Ancestors know you would only make it worse." she teased trying to lighten the mood and distract herself from her doom. Jon stood up and leaned over to the panel to work on opening it.

"Oh come on I'm not that bad." He exclaimed sarcastically as he opened the panel and saw the mess of fuses, wires, chips, and motherboards.

"Okay maybe I am, just walk me through it Miss Zorah."

* * *

"Alright looks like the signal has been boosted by fifty percent." Jon stated out loud as he read the reports on the interface of the pod to Tali. He sat down in the seat next to her and went through the medical readouts on his omni-tool to make sure her condition had not gotten any worse since they started working.

It had been two hours since they started working on improving the signal of the emergency beacon, which mainly consisted of Tali telling Jon what to put where while she tried her best not to move.

"How am I doing?" Tali asked him, praying that the report was the same or even better than the last time I checked.

"The same as last time." Tali shook her head, she wasn't ready to die. She looked back at her lover through her purple visor. Frustrated by it's very existence. _I'm not going to die without actually feeling his skin on mine, seeing him with my own eyes not through this stupid visor. I need him to see me._

"Jon if they don't make it in time…" Tali had been ready to tell him this since he first told her of her injury and had been rehearsing exactly what she was going to say. He cut her off instantly though.

"They are going to make it, Tali, I'm not losing you." She shook her head and responded.

"Just shut up and listen Bosh'tet. I...I need you to see me, sharing an open environment with somebody is the largest symbol of trust and uhmm intimacy a Quarian could do. I want to show you how I feel, in case I don't make it, I want you to see what i truly look like under this damn mask and hear my voice not through this helmet. I don't care about the risks anymore Jon." Jon listened to her intently, his brow furrowed as he registered everything she was saying. He didn't expect this and was rather thrown off.

"I love you Jon, I always will and there is nobody I have ever trusted more in my life. Please, let me do this." She finished almost morosely, her voice tinged with sorrow and fear of the end of her life.

"Are you sure about this Tali? I want to see you too but I don't want you to feel pressured to do this or to harm yourself anymore, you could get extremely sick."

"I _will_ get extremely sick, but I'm going to get sick anyways or die so theres no point in not doing this, I have wanted to for a long time but didn't know that you felt the same way."

Jon thought to himself for a few seconds and carefully chose his response.

"Okay, Tali. But you know you don't need to take off your visor for me to know you, I didn't fall in love with you for your looks I fell in love with you for who you are as a person." He smiled at her showing only love in his smile and eyes. Tali responded in kind tilting her head slightly to the side indicating admiration in her species.

"I know, _saera." _Tali brought her hands to her face, her heart pounding as she began to feel light headed and dizzy. She had never felt so nervous before, it was defying her very survival instincts to take her mask off and she had to fight those instincts every inch of the way towards the release mechanism of her visor.

_What if he's not attracted to me? What if he finds me repulsive and rejects me? _Scattered and panicked thoughts raced through her mind with each passing second nearly forcing her to stop out of fear.

Her fingers grasped the edge of her mask and felt the release button. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes preparing for her leap of faith. Tali pressed on the release mechanism and pulled her mask away as the sound of air depressurizing rang out in her ears.

Her eyes were still closed but she experienced her surroundings like never before. The cool air of the escape pod hitting her skin sent a shiver down her spine. She lowered her mask and set it down on her lap.

She waited for a few seconds, starting to panic that she heard or felt nothing from Jon. She was too afraid to open her eyes and see his revulsion or fear. Tali felt her eyes beginning to tear up, her frenzied state was interrupted by something she had never felt before. An ungloved hand cupping her chin and a thumb brushing her cheek gently, the feeling and emotion from that single gesture gave her the courage to open her eyes and see and feel her lover without a visor in between them.

* * *

Jon took in all of her features without even realizing how much time had passed. He had never seen a Quarian unmasked before and was surprised to see how human their features were. She had pale skin similar to a caucasian human, the skin looked smoother than a humans though he thought to himself. Her cheekbones were high and angular and her nose was somewhat smaller than a normal humans. Her eyebrows were nearly jet black and he was surprised to see her forehead had two black lines at the top of her temples trailing down and converging on the inner ends of her eyebrows.

Jon smiled and felt himself tearing up, she was truly, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Without thinking, he brought his hand up to cup her angular chin, and brushed his ungloved hand against her cheek. Her warm skin on his was a feeling he never thought he could appreciate so much.

His gesture was awarded with Talis eyelids rising, revealing her gray luminescent eyes to him. Her pupils dilated at the sudden intake of light and appeared frightened. _She's scared that I find her ugly._

Shepard brushed her cheek one more time and brought his face closer to hers. Leaning forward he brought his lips to hers and kissed her. The moment only lasted a second but felt like minutes to him. He knew in that instant that he loved Tali, he had never felt so content in his life.

Jon pulled his head back taking in her features once more and telling her how he felt.

"You're the most beautiful person I have ever seen, Tali." He stated with more passion than he knew he was capable of, knowing he meant every single word. Her cheeks flushed, turning into an almost purple hue as she blushed at his compliment.

Tali hung on each word as he spoke to her and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding the whole time. She awarded him with a large grin revealing her teeth that were much sharper than a humans.

"Thank you, Jon." She placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him back in for another kiss, a feeling that she rejoiced in and found herself enjoying every single moment of immensely.

A high pitched beeping noise rang out, tearing their attention away from each other. Jon turned around quickly and looked for the source as Tali let out a low growl of frustration at their interruption.

"They're here! Our short range scanner just picked up an alliance shuttle landing outside." Jon turned around with a large grin on his face and quickly strode back to Tali. He knelt down and gazed into her eyes one last time and smiled.

"I love you Tali." Tali smiled back and brought her hand to his cheek.

"I love you too Jon." Jon caressed her cheek one last time before standing up. He picked up her mask and handed it to her gently. He finished confidently and contently, as if nothing could go wrong and he was as happy as could be.

"Now lets get you out of here Miss Zorah."


	5. Memories

The shuttle was silent, save the hum of the engines emanating from the back of the vehicle. It was dimly lit in the compartment, but Tali could easily make out the four Alliance marines sitting on the bench across from where she was laying down.

She was on a stretcher laid across the bench at the back of the shuttle; her head laying next to Shepards armored legs.

The spectre had just finished asking the squad leader a series of questions. Only one of the questions was answered accurately and that was simply the name of the ship that had come to their rescue, the SSV Dubai, a dreadnought class Alliance ship. The rest of the questions concerning his sister and surviving crewmembers were answered only with uncertainty as they were still picking up survivors.

The marines were all wearing helmets, but Tali could see they were staring at her curiously. She recalled when Jon asked her so many questions about Quarians while on the Normandy. He had explained eventually that she was actually the first Quarian he ever met so she assumed it was the same case for these marines here, inquisitive of the alien form right across from them.

The eerie silence was interrupted by Jon, the sound knocked the marines out of their stupor who began to occupy themselves with menial tasks, checking weapons or their suit integrity.

"Tali, what does _saera _mean?" Tali felt her cheeks flush at the question.

_Keelah did I actually call him that? _She instinctively began to wring her hands and wrists as she thought of how to explain it to him.

_I don't want to scare him, he doesn't understand Quarian mating. _She frantically attempted to think of any explanations, glad that his translator hadn't picked it up when she said it. She found her excuse in the marines eagerly listening for her response themselves.

"I'll tell you when we are in private." She explained with her best promising voice, knowing he would understand and respect her privacy. He smiled at her and reached his hand over her head, placing it over her hand that was laying on her stomach.

The rest of the shuttle ride was spent in silence, after about ten minutes the shuttle docked in the hangar of the SSV Dubai. The vehicle shuddered slightly as it landed on the docking strip of the hangar, sending a small jolt of pain up Talis leg, causing her to hiss in pain.

Jon gently squeezed her hand in acknowledgement, trying to draw her attention away from her leg.

The soldier sitting closest to the shuttle hatch opened the door and the marines filed out, the last one out beckoning in a medical team. Two humans rushed into the shuttle and placed a stretcher on the floor next to Tali.

Jon squeezed her hand again and stood up to get out of the medical teams way. She could see how much he was worrying about her just in his stance, his eyes almost never leaving her, his body leaning towards her as if to protect her from any more injuries.

The two medics gently transferred Tali over to the stretcher and raised it so that she was at hip level of the other occupants of the shuttle.

Tali feebly reached her arm out to him, extending her digits toward his hand. He reciprocated by taking her hand in his and intertwining their misnumbered fingers. He let out a small smile, looking deep into her eyes, as if he could see past her visors, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Don't worry Jon, I'll be okay." She assured him in an almost motherly fashion, letting out a melancholy smile of her own at how much she appreciated his caring for her health.

Jon gave her a small nod, and gazed between the two medics.

"Take care of her." He ordered them, assuming his commanding persona eliciting a curt nod from both of them as they hurried out of the shuttle and into the open hangar. Tali found herself in awe at the amount of open space in the room. She recalled back home on the fleet, hangars of ships on the flotilla were crowded with the living quarters of her people with a different home every five feet.

This hangar was not completely empty, though she noted a large number of faces she recognized from the Normandy helping the crew of the Dubai with the injured. She also caught a glimpse of Garrus and Liara moving hastily towards Jon who was now out of the shuttle himself, gazing after her.

Her vision was cut off however when she entered the elevator and the doors closed, as the humans began to take medical readings on her as they rushed to the med-bay of the ship.

* * *

Jons eyes followed her through the hangar until she entered the elevator, half of him screamed at him to go after her but he had to see Quinn and the rest of the crew first. He glanced over to the injured, figuring that was where Quinn would be. He couldn't find her in the sea of frantically swarming marines and technicians all doing their best to help his injured crew.

_Where the hell is she? _Jon began to panic, worrying that maybe she hadn't made it.

_No calm down I'm sure she made it, maybe they just haven't brought her in yet. She could be in a shuttle on her way here now. _He rationalized to himself, looking around still to try and find her.

"Shepard! thank the goddess, you made it!" He turned around to see Liara who quickly strode over to him and wrapped her arms around his back bringing him into a hug. Jon smiled at her and noted Garrus, Kaidan, Wrex, and Joker all approaching him as well, each bearing grim looks on their face. Liara pulled away and he saw nothing but sorrow and pity in her eyes, she took a step back and bowed her head down looking at her feet knowing he realized something was wrong.

_Why are they looking at me like that?_

Jon slowly recognized the looks they all gave him, as they awkwardly stood not too far away but not too close. The same look people gave him after he lost his parents, the look people gave when they didn't know what to say or do. The look people gave when somebody close died.

Jons eyes widened at the realization of what was wrong, his heartbeat increased and he began to feel lightheaded as his blood began to rush.

"Where's Quinn?" he asked, his voice quivering with fear of the answer he knew was coming. His knees felt weak as if he hadn't stood in years, threatening to give in under his weight.

Nobody answered. Jon looked to each of the crew member mentally begging them to answer him, to give him some inkling of information about his little sister. He could barely even get them to make eye contact with them though.

"Where is Quinn?!" Jon yelled this time, his voice booming throughout the hangar. He felt his biotics flare and the area surrounding him began to glow with a blue hue. The noise of the hangar ceased as everybody stopped what they were doing to observe the commotion.

Wrex took a step forward and placed an oversized hand on Shepards shoulder. Jon didn't even notice the oddity of a krogan warlord showing affection, he only noticed the look on Wrex's face as he opened his mouth trying to say something. The krogan ended up merely shaking his head and looking back down at his feet, leaving his hand on Jons shoulder.

"She didn't make it, Shepard." Wrex finally choked out with his low voice.

Upon hearing those words, Jon felt his world collapsing, his entire life falling apart into pieces as he lost his bearings on reality. His surroundings diminished into a haze as everything he loved and adored about his sister flashed before his eyes. The way she smiled and was always there to cheer him up. The picture that Kahlee had taken of them the morning after their first barcrawl, how she jumped up and down and screamed when she got into the top medschool of her choice. All of the memories he shared with her, and back to the last words he had with his father, to the promise he made so many years ago.

Jon looked to all the other crew members again looking them all in the eye hoping they would tell him that Wrex was wrong somehow. His eyes eventually fell on Joker. His knees stopped shaking and he felt the lump in his throat disappear as his mind filled with rage and anger. His eyes lit up with ferocity as he remembered why Quinn didn't leave the Normandy with him.

His sight became a haze as his rage knocked Wrex's hand off of his shoulder and rushed toward Joker. He deftly guided his hands to Jokers neck as he threw his weight into the pilots frail body.

The two fell onto the floor, Joker screamed out in pain as a few of his bones snapped at the collision.

His agony was silenced by Shepards hand and yelling as he gripped his throat with enough pressure to suffocate him. He felt three talons of a turian hand pulling at his shoulders, but his anger held him in place.

"This is all your fault!" The pilot didn't struggle or even show fear, only acceptance at what he had done. Shepard felt no pity for him, he didn't recognize Jeffs pain. Jon brought his other hand up above his own head, coalescing a dark blue orb of energy in his palm, crackling and humming as if to warn of its deadliness.

Carrying the biotic orb in his open palm his rage brought his arm down towards the pilots head, his hand only made it halfway. He felt a rough three fingered hand grip his wrist, another wrapped around his torso underneath his right arm and yanked him off of Joker.

His body pinned against the shuttle like a ragdoll and pressed into by a large form he could only assume was Wrex. The krogan grabbed him by a shoulder and flipped him around so his face wasn't pressed against the metal exterior of the shuttle.

Jon felt his anger fading as he accepted his loss, his knees began to weaken again and his eyes welled up with tears as he looked at his krogan comrade to see his red eyes were doing the same.

Wrex released his grip on Jon and took a step back in between him and Joker.

Jon fell to his knees, out of breath as tears began to stream down his face, his shoulders sank with his head as he fell forward on his hands and began to choke out sobs of sorrow, a pool of tears quickly formed underneath him as he wailed out for his sister.

Kaidan and Liara helped the defeated Joker up and guided him towards the elevator out of the hangar. Wrex and Garrus stayed with their commander, standing by his side in support for his loss. They watched over him, their intimidating alien forms preventing the other occupants of the hangar from disturbing him.

The three stayed there for what felt like hours, eventually Wrex and Garrus sat down leaning their larger forms against the metal walls of the shuttle. Shepard sat up and leaned his own head against the shuttle between them. He stared at the grey empty wall across from him for some time, keeping the silence between the trio.

The turian, the krogan, and the human sat next to each other in mourning. No words were said, none needed to be as they remembered their comrade, their friend, and their family. Wishing that there was some way to bring her back from the dead.

* * *

David Anderson let out a sigh of frustration as he leaned back from his desk, he closed his strained eyes and rubbed at them with the back of his hands. He hadn't even officially started his new job as humanities first councillor and the work was already piling up.

"Mr. Anderson, Your wife is here to see you." his secretaries voice called to him over the PA. Anderson smiled at Kahlees impeccable timing, glad that she was here to cheer him up and help him relax.

"Send her in, Julia. Thank you."

He opened his eyes again and looked at the pictures he kept on his desk, the only decorations he kept in his office. He let himself smile at the pictures. He remembered the day it was taken vividly, he and Kahlee had decided the two kids needed a break from the busy Citadel and took them to Bekenstein, a small planet in the next system over from the Widow system.

They had stayed in a small house on a lake away from the bigger cities of the planet. He and Kahlee had worried about the trip the whole way there, seeing as it was their first time bringing the kids out since they had taken custody of them.

Even Jon and Quinn seemed hesitant at first as well, as soon as they arrived though they fell in love with everything, the lake, the house and all it's strange decorations and architecture that the adults found rather tacky at first but also fell in love with.

The week long trip was full of memories and plenty of them were captured in videos and pictures but these two pictures always stood out to David the most. They reminded him of what he held most dear in his life, his family.

He looked first at the picture that the four of them had taken all together one morning after breakfast. The kids were full of energy that day and it showed in the picture, David always laughed at this picture as he remembered how much Kahlee had wanted a normal family picture and instead got what sat in front of him.

The four were lined up with the camera close to them, David and Kahlee on the ends with Jon and Quinn between them. The adults carrying loving smiles on their faces and completely unaware of the fiasco going on in between them.

Jon had the largest grin David had ever seen, showing all of his teeth and a glint of mischief in his eyes. He had his arm wrapped around Quinns back and his fingers clearly tickling her side. The picture caught the moment perfectly as Quinn had her mouth open in laughter and instead of trying to get away from her brother, she was only attempting to tickle him back. Something David always admired and adored in the two siblings, they fought and bickered like any other brother and sister but they always stuck together. They never let anything tear them apart, the second picture being a perfect testament to that.

The second picture was taken at the end of the same day the first picture was taken, they had spent the majority of it swimming in the lake and playing games like hide and seek in the vast woods. By the end, the kids were exhausted, they ended up sitting out on the end of the dock with their feet in the water while Kahlee and David cooked dinner.

In the picture the two children sat next to each other at the end of the dock facing away from the camera, looking out over the lake. The setting sun reflecting off of the placid water in front of them making it so only their silhouettes were visible. Jon had his arm around his little sister and held her close, her head tucked in leaning on his shoulder.

David felt nothing but pride at those pictures, at how amazing those two goofy caring children he adopted ended up being.

_heroes, the both of them._ He said to himself, as the door to his office opened allowing Kahlee to enter and stride towards him with a smile on her face. She immediately planted a kiss on his lips and draped herself across the arm of his chair, David smiled at her and looked back at the pictures for a brief moment. Kahlee followed his eyes and let out a loving chuckle at the pictures herself.

"We did a good job didn't we?" she said almost as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes we did." He replied confidently tilting his head back in pride. David reached up and brought her back in for another kiss.

Kahlee opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by Davids assistant calling to him over the PA once more.

"Mr. Anderson, there's somebody here from the Alliance to see you, it's important." David and Kahlee glanced at each other with a confused look on their face unsure of why somebody would come without setting up a meeting first. David shrugged and pressed the comm button.

"Send them in." Kahlee and David stood up from the chair and waited, the door slid open revealing two Alliance soldiers in military dress uniform. They walked in, showing only a hint of sympathy in their eyes as they moved towards David and Kahlee.

He could feel Kahlee tense up as she began to sense something was wrong, he noticed himself doing the same thing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson?" The taller marine asked in a low and rough voice, complimenting his muscular features as he saluted.

"Yes, that's us, son." David replied with a salute as well. The soldier handed David a datapad which he immediately began reading. His hands began to shake and he felt his eyes welling up with tears as he recognized what he was reading, a K.I.A. report, on Quinn Shepard.


	6. Tantibus

_Jon sat on his knees alone in an unknown room. Equipped with his N7 armor yet he still felt naked, exposed, and weak; he felt alone. _

_He could feel the darkness surround him, closing in from every direction as if trying to smother him. It's wispy tendrils wrapping themselves around his limbs and neck, restricting his movement and breath. Whispering words of encouragement to his willingness as they multiplied._

_He didn't fight it though, he felt no reason, as if there was nothing for him to fight for, no reason to resist the numbing darkness that slowly and silently took over his body. Jon, felt the extremities of the darkness work through his body and into his mind and soul, numbing his pain and taking away his will, his conviction, convincing him to let it assume control._

_Shepard let the darkness consume him, welcoming its cold numbness over his shame and isolation. The shadows felt his acceptance, moving gleefully and hastily over his body. Covering his arms and legs, consuming his chest removing the N7 insignia from his view, his last symbol of hope gone. He felt his neck constrict and his breathing stop, yet he didn't fight nor resist it. _

_The whispers continued in a barely audible tone._

_His vision began to fade and he felt his eyes flutter as he slowly passed into the void. The encroaching numbness was interrupted by a distant sound, a voice, one he couldn't recognize._

_The voice called out to him again and again, burning the numbness away from him, the dark fingers of the darkness screeching out in protest. The darkness gripped tighter, attempting to dig into his armor as he began to curiously search for the source of the voice._

_His hunt was rewarded with a silhouette of a little girl. He couldn't recognize her or see her face, he could feel the darkness in his mind trying to keep it from him, as if it knew it would destroy their control. The whispers increased in volume, attempting to convince him to ignore the figure and her vaguely familiar voice._

"_Penny."_

_The voice washed over him, flooding his brain with memories of raw emotion. Of devotion, love, loyalty, friendship, and family. The cascade of memories washed away the numbness through each synapses of his brain. Jon gasped with his regained ability, taking a deep breath and looking up at the figure._

_He felt his soul being peered into by the warm emerald eyes, trying to convey everything they felt through a look. She stood with her hands behind her back, wearing jeans, a hoodie, and no shoes. Her hair was messy as he always remembered it being until she was about fourteen. She bore a clever smile on her face, betraying that she held a surprise behind her back. Shepard knew it was a memory from his childhood but could not remember what or when, or what wonderful surprise his sister had for him. Jon felt a new sense of hope and reached his hand out to her, trying to reach her. Trying to see what she held for him, as if his very identity, his entire life was represented in it._

_He knew he had to reach her, he had to see what she held for him, as if he was aware it was a means to hold off the darkness, the numbness that wanted to control him so desperately._

_Shepard tried to stand up but felt an immovable hand press down on him, he looked to his shoulder to find three talons materializing from the darkness. _

_The tendrils quickly manifested themselves up the carapace covered arm that he could see looked as synthetic as it did organic. The shoulder and body formed, a fringed head manifested on its neck rewarding him with two synthetic glowing eyes peering back at him._

_Saren, Shepard scowled as he quickly recognized his enemy. Sarens mandibles twitched in response as if in satisfaction at their current position._

"_You've lost, you know that, don't you?" The turian asked rhetorically, mocking his own words from when he was alive._

_Jon let out a grunt of exertion as he attempted to push his adversaries weight off of him, he tried to roll away but it was as if he attached to the turian, unable to escape him. The rogue spectre laughed at him and continued._

"_Give up human, you couldn't save her, you couldn't save the other human on Virmire, thousands died on the Citadel and hundreds on Eden Prime. You can't even save yourself from what is coming." He finished with a whisper, one Shepard instantly recognized as the whispers of the darkness._

_Jon's eyes widened and his mind began to panic as he tried to fight the fingers that were working their way back into his head._

"_Give up, human." he repeated, with enough malice to make Jon cringe. Shepard struggled as he fought off the numbness that was slowly taking him over again._

_He looked past his synthetic organic hybrid to see his sister again, waiting with the same confident grin on her face. His heart beat increased as he saw two more figures next to her._

_a lump formed in his throat, two people he had not seen for what felt like a millennia with two faces he didn't know he even remembered. His vision blurred with tears as he barely managed to choke out the words._

"_Mom? Dad?" His two parents shook their head in acknowledgement, they opened their mouths and spoke but he couldn't hear what they said, as if they were miming words to him._

_Sarens voice rang out in his ear again._

"_Ahh yes, your parents, you couldn't even protect them from some batarian scum." Shepard looked up at Saren with anger trying once again to break free of the physical bonds. Taking his attention away from fighting the darkness it slipped further into his mind, substituting the rage for hopelessness. His adversary continued, stepping to the side so he could completely see his loved ones._

"_Watch what happens, when you fight it Shepard." Saren stated with a hint of excitement. Confusion overlapped the dread and sorrow in his mind as he waited for something to happen._

_Jon saw a pair of large figures rush towards his family in his peripheral vision. He screamed at his parents, yelling at them to run as he noticed the figures were the batarian slavers from his childhood. His parents did not hear him though, he heard the loud crack of an assault rifle and saw the result, a mass accelerated round tore through his father's chest. Blood sprayed across the area as the round shredded the muscle and bones on his right chest._

_The batarians let out a loud howl of laughter as they quickly stepped over his father and grabbed his screaming mother, dragging her thrashing body off into the darkness._

_Jon screamed and yelled throughout the whole ordeal until his voice was hoarse, only to find that Saren was laughing; happy with Shephards disdain._

_The turian looked back, his mandibles flexing into a smile. "And that wasn't even the reapers, what they can do is so much worse."_

"_I see what they did to you, making you into their avatar, their personal bitch." Shepard spat back with malevolence._

_Saren ignored the spectres insult and looked back towards Quinn, still carrying the vindictive grin on his marred face. He took his hand off of Jons shoulder allowing him to move once more, _

_Jon immediately tried to attack Saren but found that he was incapable of even moving towards him._

"_Go to your sister, human." Jon knew it was a trick in the back of his mind, but he couldn't resist the urge to go to her and protect her; just like he promised his father he would so many years ago._

_He glided over to his sister effortlessly, he knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her small frame, gripping her tightly as he buried his head into her neck. He choked out a few sobs at the touch of his sister, as if he had not seen her for years._

_Quinn took a step back from him, still wearing her usual smile; her green eyes glinting with pride she brought her hands from behind her back. She had one hand balled up as if she was holding something._

_She turned her hand up and opened her hand, revealing a small copper coin, which he immediately recognized as an American penny. Jon remembered this as something that had actually happened, on his thirteenth birthday. Quinn was so proud of her cleverness for the gift._

_Jon smiled, reminiscing about the past, feeling as if he was still the young boy in the apartment receiving the present. He reached out to take it from her hand and she let him pinch it out of her palm with his index finger and thumb._

_He gazed at the penny, flipping it over between his fingers and observing each detail remembering it exactly as he knew the gift was._

_Jon was pulled out of his trance by a hand on his shoulder, he looked back up to see Quinn, a light smile still on her face but the happy glint gone from her green eyes. Instead he saw pity and melancholy in her expression. She opened her mouth and spoke but he couldn't hear her as the darkness surrounded them both, preventing him from hearing what his mind knew was so important to him._

_Shepard began to panic, fearing he would lose her to the darkness. He lunged out for her to pull her close to him only to find her materialize five feet away from him; Saren was next to her. He tried to run towards her, screaming at Saren to get away from her but found he could not move again. He was held in place by hungry tendrils of darkness, he continued his string of insults and yelling, but found he had no voice. Everything was muted except for Sarens laugh._

"_You couldn't protect your parents from the batarians, and you definitely could not protect this...human from the reapers. Give up Shepard, you've lost everything you are." As Saren finished the, room illuminated, revealing a familiar environment. The Normandy._

_Jon was at the center of what appeared to be the crew deck, everything looked the same way he had last seen it, on fire. All except everything past the med-bay was gone, open to the black void of space._

_At the very edge of the border between the safety of the floor of the Normandy and space stood Saren and Quinn, looking at him contently. Saren content with malice, Quinn still looking at him pitifully, repeating the words he could not hear over and over._

"_Say goodbye, Shepard." Sarens mandibles twitched again as he put his hand on the younger Shepards shoulder and gave her a push backwards, into the void._

_She began to violently trash, trying to reach out for Jon who tried the same from the position he was still trapped in. _

_Jon screamed and tried with all of his might to break free of the bond but only exerted himself, collapsing forward. He fell onto his face, sobbing silently at his failure to protect his sister. His failure to protect the people he cared about and loved._

_He heard the metallic clanks of Sarens steps moving toward him. The noise reached the side of his body and stopped next to him._

"_Everybody you love, will die."_

_Jon turned his head and saw seven more figures appear behind Saren. The light dawned on them revealing David, Kahlee, Wrex, Kaidan, Liara, and Garrus, all lead by Tali who stood at the front of the group. The purple clad quarian was looking down at her feet, her hands intertwined in front of her waist. _

_Jon smiled at seeing his timid lover, comforted by her presence despite the circumstance. His satisfaction was short lived however as he saw a giant ship materialize behind them. Purple in color._

'_Sovereign!' Jons eyes widened and he felt his heart became heavy with adrenaline as he tried to warn Tali and his friends of the threat. They didn't hear him though. Sovereigns weapons primed, glowing a deadly red as it prepared to unleash its destruction._

"_I said everyone, didn't I?" Saren quipped sarcastically._

_The glowing orb of red formed into a red beam shooting out at his comrades._

"Tali!" Jon heard himself this time. He jolted upwards, finding himself in a familiar surrounding that was dim but not the same darkness that he experienced before.

He was home, at David and Kahlees apartment in the bedroom closest to the bedroom. Panting heavily he looked down at himself to confirm he wasn't still in the nightmare.

His armor faded back to subconsciousness and his bare chest was exposed, his skin glistening with a layer of sweat.

Jon let out a sigh of relief accepting that it was over, it wasn't the first time he had experienced the nightmare. He had it every time he slept since Quinns death just over two weeks ago. It had been two days since her funeral, an event he thought was just a nightmare he would simply wake up from. Only then did he learn that the funeral was just beginning and that the nightmares would come to him every time he slept, so instead of sleeping he found himself drinking copious amounts of alcohol and accepting any possibility of a bar fight.

He had began to avoid all of the crew members who were still on the citadel, as they all reminded him of his sister.

Jon swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached down to pull on his shirt he had worn earlier that day. He was still wearing the same pants which he had not even bother to take off from earlier.

Shepard looked over to the clock on the nightstand to see it had only been half an hour since he had said goodnight to Tali and attempted to go to bed for the night.

Letting out another sigh at the thought of Tali he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and placing his palms on his head as he considered the same thought that had been plaguing him for a week. Part of his mind thought it was the best thing to do for her, she would be angry with him, maybe even hate him, but he couldn't be responsible for her death either just like he was Quinns.

Tali had been staying at the apartment with him, sleeping on the couch every night and trying to comfort him during the day. He wanted to ask her to sleep with him instead of the other room but was afraid she would feel guilted into it and he was worried that sharing the same bed might be moving things too fast for her.

A voice rang out behind him timidly and concerned, as if the speaker wasn't sure if they were allowed to be there.

"Jon? What's wrong?" He turned around, looking over his shoulder to see Tali standing nervously at the doorway. Seeing him acknowledge her gave her some courage. She walked to him silently and sat down on the bed next to him. She wrapped her arm around his still sweaty tense body and pulled him closer to hers.

Jon wanted to resist, he had been trying to keep a distance from Tali for the past few weeks as he considered whether or not to send her back to the fleet.

He wanted more than anything to have her by his side, he felt nothing but content and happy with her presence, but he wanted to keep her safe. The nightmares had taken their toll on him, and he knew it. Jon blamed himself every second for Quinns death, he would rather die than have somebody else, especially Tali, die because of him.

Dieing was something he had considered greatly since Quinns death, on multiple occasions he had found himself standing at the edge of the roof of the apartment building, staring down hundreds of feet at the pedestrians below. He wondered about how easy their lives must be, working a simple job, completely unaware of the reapers, and most importantly living with an intact family. He thought about each human celebrating a thanksgiving dinner with a full family, with actual parents.

Each thought pushed him closer to the edge but every time he stopped himself when he thought of Tali, Kahlee, and David. Tali was so innocent and young, he couldn't draw himself to taking away that innocence by taking his own life, and Kahlee and David; They had already lost his parents who were their best friends, and Quinn who they took in as their own daughter. Quinn who he saw everywhere since the minute he learned that she had left.

He saw her everywhere, in the crowd, people with the same hair or who dressed like her, he had even seen a little girl who he could have sworn was the reincarnation of his sister, the same green eyes and messy black hair with sharp features.

"Hey." Tali called out, trying to get his attention. She gave up on trying to grab his attention and settled with rubbing her hand along his back in a circular motion. Jon's heart melted at the gesture and he wanted nothing more than to bury his head into her neck and cry like a child.

"Talk to me Jon. You can't keep everything you are feeling bottled up." She brought her hand up to the back of his neck, gently caressing the back of his head.

Jon knew he couldn't resist much longer, if he caved he wouldn't have the courage to say anything about what he was thinking.

_You have to tell her. _Jon shook his head and glanced over at Tali shamefully as if he had done something to wrong her. She responded in kind, she locked eyes with him as she attempted to rub the stress from his neck. Jon silently cursed at himself for what he was about to say knowing it would hurt and confuse her. He placed his right hand on her leg as if trying to comfort her before speaking.

"Tali, I…" He gripped her leg tighter as he choked up on the words and fought back tears.

"I think you should go back to the fleet." He spat out almost mumbling the words, he quickly broke eye contact and looked down at his hand as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Tali's entire body tensed up and she pulled her hand away from his neck in shock.

"You what? I don't understand, did I do something wrong?" Her voice rising and stuttering as she tried to think of why he would be doing this.

Jon delayed his response, carefully picking each word of his response so as not to upset her.

_As if theres any way to not upset her with this. _

"I love you more than anything, nobody has ever made me happier than you. You make me feel at home wherever we are, as long as I am with you I am happy." He brought his chin back up making eye contact again with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, now clearly pained and confused by his actions.

"Which is why I want you to be safe. People have died because of me, people I cared about, I can't handle losing any more and I certainly can't handle losing you." Tali stuttered out a few syllables, unable to form any words in response.

Jon reached up to his shoulder and grabbed her hand that was now resting there. He held onto it tightly, as he figured it was the last time he ever would.

Jon felt tears stream down his face, the heat leaving a trace down his now cool skin.

"This..." Jon gestured towards their intertwined fingers.

"what we have, is all I have left. I love you Tali, and you mean the world to me. So many people have died for me; My parents, Ash, Pressly...Quinn." He choked on the last name as a lump formed in the back of his throat, threatening to make him break down in tears.

"I need you to be somewhere safe, away from me." Tali did not respond. A deadly silence hung between them for what felt like hours before she replied. He thought she never would, the silence was interrupted by a faint crying sound. Jon suddenly realized that Tali had turned off her audio output and was sobbing violently.

"Tali, I'm sorry." He placed his hand on her shoulder and she violently batted it away. She stood up away from the bed.

"Sorry? That's all you have to say?! I was there for you when nobody believed you about Saren! I was there for you when we lost Ash and I've been with you ever since, supporting you! Because I love you Shepard!" Tali using his last name instead of his first stung him, as if she no longer was close enough to call him Jon.

The selfish part of Jon hoped that she was finished with telling him about all the things he had been avoiding for the past week. Tali, seeing the pain and distress her words had caused him, continued in a different approach.

"I'm not leaving your side, Jon. Quarians do not abandon their bondmates. You need to talk to me! You can't just push everybody who cares about you away because you are afraid to lose them, the others may fall for that but I won't." Jon, still sitting on the bed placed his head in his hands and let out another sigh, frustrated and ashamed.

Tali noticed his resignation and moved to sit next to him again, sniffing as she tried to hold off her own tears. She wrapped her arms around Jons large frame, nuzzling her head on his shoulder.

"Please, Jon just talk to me. Help me understand what's going on in that head of yours, tell me about the nightmares, your parents, anything." She placed her hand on his chin, pulling his head up forcing him to make eye contact with her pleading eyes.

The nightmare flashed through his head again. His young innocent sister suffocating to death, his parents being brutally murdered and enslaved, all of his friends and Tali being decimated by Soveriegn. At the end of it all something Saren had said went through his mind, finalizing the impact of it all.

_Everybody you love, will die. _

All the assurance and confidence Talis presence had given him, even though it was only a little, shattered into pieces and disappeared from existence.

The faces of the dead continued to flash through his eyes, searing into his brain and the voice of Saren rang out without mercy repeating the same words to him.

_Everybody you love, will die._

Jon swiftly stood up, moving out of Talis reach. He forced himself to walk towards the exit, fighting himself every inch of the way.

"No, Tali. You need to go back to the fleet. I'm sorry." Tali stared after him stricken by her sudden loss of ground. Jon didn't turn back or stop after leaving the room, he continued to the exit of the apartment and exited as quickly as possible. He did not know or care where he was going, he did not even consider it. Yet somehow, in the back of his mind he knew he would end up on a bender, cowardly hiding from his feelings and self loathing.

_That's all you are anyways, a pathetic coward._

* * *

**I realized I forgot to credit the word Saera to Calinstel the author of To Survive. It is an excellent Talimancer series I suggest you all read it even its continued version To Survive: Terminus Coalition by Frillycakes. Yes I know it is a beautiful name it really rolls off of the tongue, Frillycakes.**

* * *

**Quick note to you few readers out there, particularly the ones who decided to review and trash talk this chapter calling it an overused trope. Thanks for telling me something I already knew extremely well, so I suggest waiting till next chapter before deciding to try and trash talk my choices. For all of those who actually enjoyed reading this and have faith in the fact that I am purposely going out of my way to move away from most ME fanfiction tropes, have fun, keelah se lai and thanks for the support as always!**

**Hint: Look for possible Lion King reference next chapter.**


	7. This Is Who I Am

**Sorry if this chapter seems a bit barebones in some parts. I was really rushed and it was a long chapter.**

* * *

Tali sat alone on the bed, warm tears falling down her face and forming a small puddle in her visor. The argument with Jon had been a catalyst for all the stress she had undergone in the past few weeks herself.

She avoided voicing to anybody how disturbed she was over Quinn's death, she had to stay strong for Jon and simply pushed aside her own feelings for his. He was the one thing holding her in check and helping her hold it together; the issues with her father, worrying about the fleet, the reapers, all those who died on the Normandy, and now he was pushing her away.

_And why? because he's scared? Maybe he doesn't want me, why would he want a quarian girl anyways. _Talis self doubt and insecurity began to take hold, taking over her mind and only increasing the amount of tears. Tali heard a pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. She tried to find the effort to compose herself before they entered the room but failed, instead, Tali remained in her sorry state. She heard the footsteps stop at the doorway to the room and a voice reached her ears. She stood up and turned around to face Kahlee and David,

"Tali, what happened? Where is Jon?" Kahlee asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. David stood next to her perplexed and, what appeared to be, an exhausted look on his face. His dark toned skin showing signs of aging and stress, something Tali noticed had only occurred recently. When she had first met him during the hunt for Saren he looked ten years younger than he did now.

Realizing they were staring at her as they waited for an answer she still hadn't given, she nervously brought her hands together, cursing herself for getting so distracted. She tried to push out the words that they had gotten in an argument, explain to them what had happened and what he said. She found that saying the words were nearly impossible and only managed to choke out a few words.

"I...I shouldn't be here, I'm sorry for waking you, excuse me." She stuttered out while looking down at her feet as she brushed past them and walked to her bag of supplies she had next to the couch.

Kahlee followed closely behind, trying to get an explanation for what was going on while David followed suit.

"Tali, you don't need to go, just tell us what's wrong."

Tali turned back to the humans to see the concern painted across their faces. She always admired how they could portray so many emotions facially, she found it to be entertaining and in certain cases with Jon, heartwarming.

The thought of Jon and the moments they had shared with her unmasked, rushed through her mind, flooding her with happiness and was soon replaced by sorrow as she realized she most likely wouldn't experience that again. Tali began to cry again, missing Quinn, knowing that not only this wouldn't be a problem if Quinn were still alive but that she would have something to say to cheer up the situation.

A pair of thin arms wrapped around Talis torso as she cried, she returned the hug and held tightly onto the human woman that she barely knew. Eventually Kahlee pulled away, a warm smile on her face and her light blue eyes wide with concern.

"Just sit down Tali, tell us what happened." Tali complied and sat down on the beige couch behind her, Kahlee sat down next to her with her legs pressed together and her hands on her lap while she turned her body to face Tali.

Kahlee looked behind her to see David still standing awkwardly, unsure of what to do as this clearly wasn't his area of expertise. Tali noticed Kahlee giving him a stern look and nudging her head towards the chair that was diagonal to the couch. Anderson resigned quickly and sat down on the chair on Talis right, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands.

Tali slowly began to explain to them everything that had occurred, not just that night. But everything that had occurred since her awakening on the Normandy.

* * *

She stared out at the tumultuous visual cacophony of red and blue mixing and conforming in front of her. The dim sun casted a warm light on her pale skin as she slightly turned her head to the right, her jet black hair falling across her temple as it blocked the sun from her vision. Her Australian accent rang out across the massive and black room that, even if properly illuminated, would look no different than it did now.

"Shepard will never work with us, even if we convince him that we have a common enemy, he hates Cerberus. He made that very clear when he and his crew of aliens and his sister destroyed our thorian and thresher maw operations." Miranda spoke confidently, she was aware that her superior had a plan, but her pride wouldn't allow her to simply ask him what to do though, so she waited patiently for his response.

She watched the lit cigarette make its way up to his mouth, the ember intensifying as he inhaled deeply. He removed the cigarette and let out a long breath, revealing a cloud of smoke that quickly dissipated into the expanses of the room. Miranda unconsciously turned her body to face him completely, unaware of how commanding his presence was.

He responded when it was convenient for him and not for his listener, something she found to be quite effective.

"Shepard is humanities last hope, the council and the alliance are both weak and not acknowledging the real threat." His voice stated calmly and almost robotically as if he had been thinking the same words over and over his head.

Miranda expected there was more to what he had to say and waited as he took a sip from his glass of whiskey and placed it on the arm of his chair, the only piece of furniture in the room. Finally he continued.

"Shepard may hate us and may not believe in our ideals, but we can get him to cooperate."

Miranda ran through a series of scenarios in her head.

_Torture him into submission maybe? No, too much collateral. Control chip maybe but that could compromise his personality. Blackmail? Most of his family is dead but it's possible he would work for us if we held one of his alien friends hostage. No we need his full cooperation._

Giving up on trying to figure out herself Miranda let go of her pride for a small moment.

"How?" The simple word felt alien to her, she hated asking for help and purposely avoided doing so all of her life.

The illusive man took his eyes away from the sun in front of him, bringing them to hers. She felt her body tense up as the synthetic eyes looked to be staring right through her. He answered her question, clearly sensing her discomfort, his voice echoed throughout the empty room.

"Lazarus rising"

* * *

"Tali, stay here, at least until we get Jon back and he actually talks to you and explains things. He is going through a tough time, we all are. I'm sure that he doesn't really want you to leave." Kahlees comforting voice responded to Tali, who continued to insist that she leave since Jon had said she should. Tali tried to protest but Kahlee interrupted her quickly. She placed a hand on Tali's shoulder and smiled warmly.

"You're always welcome here. Jon doesn't really want you to leave he is just scared is all. We'll wait with you and we can all talk to him when he get's back, okay?"

Tali nodded her head in acknowledgement, smiling at how welcoming and comforting Kahlee and David were to her.

David finally spoke, the first time she had heard him say anything the entire night.

"It's been a while, I'm going to go look for him. I have a pretty good idea of where he might be." He stood up from the chair and strode to the door, he grabbed a jacket from a hook on the wall next to the entrance.

"I'll let you know when I find him." Neither of the women objected to his plan and simply nodded to him before he left, leaving the two of them alone.

A silence fell across the dim room as the two were unsure of what to say, it was interrupted by Kahlee.

"I'm going to make some coffee, it's going to be a late night. We have some dextro coffee in case we ever have any turian guests, would you like some?" She stood up from her position on the couch and faced Tali waiting for an answer.

"Oh, you don't have to make me any, it's okay. I've never even had it before." Tali replied innocently, not wanting Kahlee to waste something so expensive on her.

Kahlee immediately responded to Talis selflessness, stopping her before she could continue with it.

"All the more reason to have it then, you saved the galaxy, Tali. You deserve some coffee." Kahlees response caused Tali. She was left alone in the living room as Kahlee worked on the coffee in the kitchen.

Tali did her best not to worry, praying to the ancestors that Jon wouldn't push her away again. She had been so happy in the small time she had with him, Tali never felt like she belonged anywhere ever since her mother died. With Shepard though, she felt at home, safe and secure, a security nobody had ever truly been able to give her, not just physical security but emotional and mental as well. Now all that security was at risk of being gone, destroyed by his fear, something she never realized he had.

Tali's omni-tool let out a high pitched chime indicating she had a notification. She curiously opened up her omni-tool and inhaled deeply as her widened eyes identified the notification. An audio message from Quinn Shepard. Talis heart rate increased and her hand began to shake as her finger hovered over the message, fighting to gather the courage to open the audio log.

_Why would she send a message to me? Did she mean to send it to Jon? Maybe its just a glitch._

After a few seconds of what felt like long arduous minutes of holding in a breath, Tali finally tapped the interface and opened the audio log which began to play; it wasn't a glitch. Tali brought her hand up to her mouth only to be interrupted by her mask as she realized it wasn't a glitch and Quinns voice, the voice of a ghost, began to speak to her.

"Tali, I don't have much time so I've got to get to the point. If Jon hasn't already told you this, then he never will after I'm...gone." Quinns voice seemed so different than Tali remembered it, the melody it usually carried was gone, replaced by a labored breathing and somber tone, one Tali remembered her mother having right before she passed. A hot tear streamed down Tali's cheek and her vision blurred with more as she struggled to not break down at hearing her long lost friends voice.

"Jon loves you, he loves you more than anything and he would do anything to keep you safe, I'm willing to bet he will try to push you away to keep you safe after this; don't let him. Stay with him and keep my big brother safe. You're like a sister to me, Tali, something I definitely could have used while growing up." She let out labored chuckle, It was genuine and seemed to hold more life than the rest of her message had so far, causing Tali to smile at Quinns remark.

"I feel like there is so much more I should say, but I'm almost out of time, I'm sorry Tali." There was a brief pause in the message before Quinn gave her final remark.

"Keelah se lai, Tali." The message cut out, leaving Tali alone in the silence of the dark room. Contemplating everything Quinn had, her mind was flooding with confusion and uncertainty. Not knowing what to think of it all, she simply closed her eyes and tapped the interface, playing the message again.

* * *

His throat burned, he could feel the liquor coursing through his body, wreaking havoc on his sensory and motor control, a feeling he had come to welcome lately. By the time he had walked into Choras Den, a bar he had originally hated but now appreciated immensely, he had decided that he would spend the rest of the night there as he had for multiple nights since Quinns death.

Jon indicated for the bartender, a surly turian he was quite familiar with at this point, to pour him another shot. The turian complied without emotion or opinion at Shepard's sorry state. Jon watched as the liquid filled the glass and hastily drank it as soon as it was done being poured.

The burning of the alcohol gave him a spark of energy, but soon his blurry vision was darkening again. Jon felt exhaustion overcoming him and allowed his head to fall into his palms and his eyes to close.

_Just for a second. _He assured himself. As soon as the neon lit bar and flashing lights were removed from his vision, the darkness given by his eyelids was replaced by the faces of the dead once more, and the voice of Saren.

_They were all staring at him, doing nothing but staring into his very being, their motionless eyes accusing him of their death, of his failure. Jon easily identified them all, Ashley, Jenkins, Nihlus, Benezia, all of Kirrahe's men who didn't survive Virmire, and finally Quinn, with his parents on either side. Sarens voice rang out as Jon locked eyes with his sister and tried to speak to her to apologize to her for failing._

_But Saren wouldn't let him, he couldn't speak._

"_Give up, human. You failed them all."_

_Jons surroundings began to shake violently, as if there was a thresher maw at his feet or an earthquake. The ghosts remained unmoved, the eyes on their pale faces still staring at him unphased as their world collapsed. They instantly turned to black then to bright lights and a loud word that Jon couldn't understand. _

"Jon, wake up Jon." Jon slowly and barely returned to the world. The invasive music, neon lights and other drunken patrons surrounding him and filling his very limited senses. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see David standing over him, a tired look on his aging face.

"You look like shit, David." Jon slightly slurred as he let out a small chuckle and turned back to the bar. He heard a loud sigh from behind him, the hand left his shoulder and he saw movement on his right.

David sat in the chair next to him and ordered a drink from the bartender. He glanced over at Jon and smirked.

"Not nearly as bad as you son." The bartender slid a drink over to Anderson who quickly threw back the shot and grimaced. He let out a grunt of satisfaction and set the glass down, waving off the bartender who offered to pour him another.

Jon sat back up lazily, already feeling the effects of the alcohol wearing off slightly, a benefit of his biotic implants.

Anderson gazed up at the vid screen on the wall clearly not paying attention to whatever it was playing, deep in thought. The way he always looked when he would have to give a lecture to Jon and Quinn as children.

A silence between the two continued while the rest of the bar went on its way, without a worry of the reapers or any threat, something the two silent men knew all too much about.

"I remember when you joined the alliance and you were about to leave for bootcamp, how upset Quinn was." David let out a reminiscent smile and chuckled.

"Hell, she was crying more than Kahlee was. She wanted more than anything for you to stay there rather than go somewhere dangerous or somewhere you would be unhappy, and you know damn well that if she asked you to stay, you would have." Jon briefly considered what David had said and nodded in agreement, David continued as he toyed with the empty glass in front of him.

"But she didn't say anything, she let you go because thats what you wanted to do. She refused to hold you back, regardless of how much she ended up missing you during bootcamp. Then when you came home, you were so happy with yourself and proud, she didn't want to take that from you." David finished his speech, he let out a sigh and his shoulders sagged, looking even older to Jon than he had before.

Jon was confused by his adopted father's behavior, he was rarely openly emotional with him like this and discussing Quinn, rather being lectured about his little sister, was only making his mood worse and making him want to drink even more.

"So what's your point?" Jon replied with more frustration than he meant too.

David didn't give into Jons anger and held his resolve as he answered the question.

"My point is, she wouldn't want you to get caught up on her, she would want you to be happy. Not push away all the people you love. Quinn would want you to keep them close and be happy, now we all know we can't just be happy without her. We may never be able to do that, but you can at least try." Jon listened carefully to Davids reasoning and considered it for a few minutes, staring at his hands in shame.

"I spent my whole life, living for her…I barely even know who I am without her." Jon paused and let out a deep breath, he looked away from his hands and at the wall in front of him.

"I wouldn't even know where to start trying to be happy again." Jons eyes teared up and he drunkenly tried to wipe them away, doing his best not to mingle on the thought of his sister. Anderson placed his hand on Jons shoulder again causing him to look at David who had a small but noticeable smile on his face.

"You can start with Tali, that girl is head over heels in love with you Jon and I know you feel the same way. Don't pass that opportunity up." Anderson stood up from his seat adding onto his statement as if he knew shepard had already agreed to it.

"Now come on, Kahlee and Tali are worried sick about you. Plus you have some things to discuss with Tali, I'd say."

Jon nodded his head and tried to stand up all too quickly. While his biotic implants certainly helped shorten the effects of inebriation, they didn't eliminate the effects. He stumbled as he stood up, his left leg caught on the chair and he began to fall forward, bringing the chair down with him. David managed to stop him by wrapping his arm under Jons shoulders and holding him up.

Jon grunted in disapproval and slight embarrassment as he finally observed the other patrons, who were all staring at him. It took him a second to register why, he was all over the news, the savior of the citadel and conqueror of the geth to them, and he was drunk in one of the citadels seediest bars.

Shepard felt ashamed of himself even in his drunken state as he leaned on Anderson who walked him out of the bar and towards the taxi that was about fifty yards away from the entrance.

Anderson stopped at a support column on one side of the walkway right across the taxi interface, he leaned Jon against the pillar and told him to wait while he hailed a cab.

Jon began to close his eyes as the world around him began to spin, all the voices of the crowd coming in distorted and making him nauseous.

A beeping chime mixed in with the voices and he sought it out trying to identify it. After a quick moment he realized it was his omni-tool and opened it up, the world began to spin again, this time not from the alcohol.

His motor controls took a mind of their own and instantly moved to open the message from Quinn, not even pausing in shock, despite the fact that his mind certainly was in shock.

The audio began to play and Quinns voice rang out in Jon's ear causing him to shudder and fall back against the pillar.

"Hey, Penny." Jon listened intensely to every noise and pause. He listened as Quinn took a deep breath, most likely unsure of what to say, then continued.

"This is all so cliche, I never thought I would say goodbye like this. There is just a few things I really need to say. I wanted to thank you...for taking care of me and looking out for me. Big brothers typically hate and try to avoid their annoying little sister, yet you always stood by me and looked out for me, you did everything for me, but you don't need to look out for me anymore, Penny. None of this is your fault and you have so many other things to look forward too in your life. It doesn't all have to be about me, it never had to be."

Jons knees began to shake and he collapsed underneath the pressure, falling onto the floor of the ward, he had forgotten to breathe and was forced to inhale deeply while his dead sister continued to speak to him.

"You don't need to live for me anymore. I lived a happy life because of you, you gave me everything you could and you did a good job at it. Now it's time for you to live your life, settle down, get married, have kids. Live your life, Penny, and kick some reaper ass, I love you big brother."

"Oh, and if you don't tell Tali you love her or if you try and push her away, I will haunt you from the grave." Jon would have laughed at her sense of humor if he still wasn't staring at the device in complete shock as her voice rang through his ears, a voice he never thought he would hear again.

"I'm running out of time, I...I have to go. I love you, Penny." The recording ended, leaving Jon alone in the crowded halls of the citadel, the noises blurred out to him as he sat in stasis, absorbing everything she had just told him.

* * *

David and Jon walked into the apartment to see Kahlee and Tali sitting on the couch by the fireplace, they were engaged in a conversation that seemed to be about the flotilla causing Jon to smirk inwardly.

He always adored how Tali could go on and on about the flotilla for hours back on the Normandy, even if the victim was clearly bored. Jon realized that he never did get bored and was originally confused by all the other crewmembers complaints about it.

Kahlee was clearly the newest victim, she sat with her arm on the armrest of the chair and leaning her head into the palm of her hand, a pained expression on her face as Tali thoroughly explained the quarian government to her.

A relieved expression overcame Kahlees face for more than one reason as she saw Jon and David enter the room. She stood up immediately, but stopped herself from hastily walking over to Jon and chastising him for his behavior.

David helped Jon walk over to the couch and sat him down next to Tali, who awkwardly stayed in her position, unsure of what to do.

David and Kahlee exchanged a glance and nodded at their unspoken agreement. Kahlee spoke up.

"You two have some talking to do, were going to give you some space."

Jon felt Tali shift almost uneasily and he cursed himself for wishing he could have done something to comfort her, then he cursed himself for causing the problem in the first place.

Kahlee and David quickly retreated up the stairs and into their room leaving Jon and Tali alone in the living room.

Tali quickly began to speak, not in her nervous tone, but a confident and determined one that Jon was sure he had never heard before.

"I'm not leaving Jon, I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving your side. I love you and I'm not going to let you push me away because you are afraid of…"

Jon interrupted her as quickly as inebriated senses would let him, he reached over and placed his hand on hers and squeezed it lightly before speaking as he leaned forwards.

"Tali it's okay, if anybody should be apologizing its me." Tali cocked her head to the side in confusion at his remark as she expected him to argue rather than apologize.

Noticing her confusion Jon quickly elaborated in his tired tone.

"I spent my whole life living for Quinn, trying to keep her safe, and she died, because she idolized me and followed me. When she...died…" Jon slightly choked up on the words about his sister being no more but managed to continue instead of breaking down.

"...My whole life came crashing down around me, I thought I had failed completely, but I still had you, and what we have...it means so much to me, I've never felt this way about anybody before, you make me happy and feel comfortable and safe. You make me feel like I belong, Tali, and the thought of having you die because you followed me just like my sister was too much for me to handle, I was terrified." tears began to well up in his eyes as he remembered all the awful ways he had seen Tali and his friends die in his nightmares.

The tears broke from his eyes and began streaming down his face. Tali took her hand away from his and reached up to his cheek brushing the tear away, she pushed her hand around to his back and pulled him into a hug.

She wrapped her arms around his back tightly and held the back of his head with one of her three digit hands as he cried into her shoulder. Jon continued to speak as he nuzzled his face into her suited shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Tali, I lost sight of who I am, I don't want you to leave. If...we're not going to make it through this, then I want to be with you." Tali let out a calm motherly shushing noise as she replied to him in as much of a calming voice as she could muster.

"We're going to make it through this, Jon. I promise." Tali felt tears of her own welling up at the pure emotion he was displaying. Shocked that Shepard even had a breaking point.

Jon pulled his head away and paused, his face only a few inches away from hers. She wanted to kiss him so badly. To comfort him and give him something to be happy about, to show him her face again and actually show him how much she loved him.

She lowered her hand to the back of his neck and he brought his hand up to her shoulder, he showed a small smile, his face still marked by tears.

"I'll stay, Jon. I love you and I won't leave your side, I'll be with you for this to the very end." She assured him one more time just to make sure he knew all was well between them. His smile grew substantially as he almost whispered a response.

"Thank you."

The two stayed like that for some time, appreciating each others company in silence. A warming company that they had not enjoyed for what felt like years.

Jon interrupted the silence eventually with a question as he remembered something from their fight earlier that night.

"Tali, remember how you said that I don't talk to you and never tell you anything about my past, even my parents?" Tali nodded in response, Jon shook his head and avoided eye contact as he considered what he was about to do. Tell somebody about his parents, a detail that none of his friends or significant others ever knew about him.

"Well, would you like me to tell you?" He asked, with a hint of nervous hesitation in his voice.

"Only if you want too, Jon. You can tell me in time." Jon thought deeply for a few seconds before deciding to take a leap of faith and tell her, feeling that he at least owed Tali that after everything he had put her through.

"Well, here goes. David and Kahlee were the godparents of Quinn and I, we grew up on a small human colony in…" Tali listened intently as Jon told her the story of his childhood, one that she soon learned was grim and full of horrors. Something that made her even more grateful for her own childhood and even her distant father.

* * *

By the time Jon had finished telling Tali everything, an hour had passed and he was laying on the couch, his head laying in her lap while she ran her fingers through his short hair.

"Tali, you never told me what _Saera_ means." Tali smiled as she remembered using the word with Jon, at how wonderful it sounded to her when she thought of him.

"It does not directly translate to any other language it has a unique khelish meaning to it. The closest thing it would translate to for you would be, the guardian of my heart. It means so much more than that to quarians though, we use it only with the people we trust completely with our heart and soul."

Jon smiled as he looked up at her with his tired eyes.

"I like that." he mumbled softly, his eyes began to flutter, as he struggled to keep awake. Tali chuckled at how exhaustion could even beat the savior of the citadel.

"Come on, Jon, lets get you to bed." He grunted in disapproval at having to move but eventually got up and she walked his tired, nearly limp body to his bed which he promptly flopped onto, burying his face into the pillow.

Tali sighed, as she realized how much she wanted to just sleep with him, rather than back on the couch. She was too afraid to make the initiation though, worried that she would be taking advantage of him while he was still emotionally compromised.

Tali turned to walk away from the bed but was stopped short as she heard Jon speak quietly behind her. She turned back to him to hear what he was saying.

"Stay with me..._Saera. _Please." He whispered as he reached a hand out to her with his eyes still closed.

Tali felt her heart melt and let out a large grin as butterflies filled her stomach. Tali laid down on the bed next Jon, who rolled over onto his back. She hastily crawled up to him and laid her head down on his shoulder and wrapped her arm across his chest, getting as close to him as she possibly could.

The last thoughts she had before passing quickly into the voids of sleep were of her _Saera_.

* * *

_The darkness surrounded him again, this time Jon was surprised to see his sister immediately, standing in front of him, her hands behind her back and that same clever glint in her eyes._

_She walked up to him, gleefully and pulled her hand out from behind her back. She opened up her hand revealing an old American penny in the palm of her hand. Jon smiled and took the coin from her, taking in every detail of it and appreciating how sentimental of a gift it was. _

_He looked up to Quinn after a few seconds to see her still smiling at him. She opened her mouth to speak and Jon was shocked to actually hear her words this time, the words he had been denied for so long in all the previous nightmares._

"_Remember who you are." She said wistfully and giggled at Jons expression as the dark room illuminated revealing a place Jon quickly recognized._

'_Bekenstein' Jon was on his knees, looking out over the lake, a few feet away from the beginning of the dock. In front of him stood all of his friends, Kaidan, Wrex, Liara, Garrus, and Tali in the front of them all. What caught his attention the most was that Tali had no mask on, she was smiling at him, her almost white eyes illuminating from the shade of her realk._

_Wrex approached Shepard first, the usual evil looking grin on his face and a glint of pride in his red eyes. _

"_Hero." His rough voice boomed dramatically to Shepard before walking behind Jon and out of his sight. Liara approached quickly behind Wrex and placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly with a warm smile._

"_My savior." Her warm blue eyes looking deeply into his with nothing but confidence and honesty to show she was not lying to him._

_Jon watched as Garrus approached next calling him his brother, before moving on and out of his sight. Kaidan followed suit naming Shepard as the best Commander he had ever known. Lastly Tali approached him slowly but surely, carrying the smile he had only seen once but loved so dearly. She reached him and got down onto her knees to match his height._

_Her eyes and smile casted a warm glow of comfort over Jon, serenity. Something he realized he had never experienced before. Her lips parted and she spoke to him, without her voice being synthesized by her helmet first which only amplified the calmness he was feeling._

"_My Saera." The words rolled off her tongue and Jon relished each syllable as she leaned in and kissed him. She held the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away and standing up. _

_She offered her hands to Jon to help him stand up, stepping to the side she revealed a long lost memory to Jon._

_A silhouette of a little girl, no more than seven years old sat at the end of the dock, looking out over the lake at the sunset._

_Jon immediately gravitated to her, walking slowly and steadily, afraid something would go wrong, nothing did._

_He reached the end of the dock and sat down next to the little girl whose green eyes looked up from the water to glance at him and glimmer in the magnificent sunlight._

_Jon sat down next to her and was rewarded with her leaning her head on his shoulder. She was quickly asleep._

_Jon looked out at the sunset and smiled, taking in its warmth and comfort._

'_This is who I am.'_

* * *

**How's that for non-canon? I really hope you enjoyed this defining chapter, I know I certainly enjoyed writing the end, that was a lot of fun! Review and let me know how you feel or if you have any questions just PM me and I'll get back you ASAP.**


	8. Sunlight

His chest expanded and compressed at an even calming rate, one that she found her own body matching. She kept her eyes closed her mind slowly awoke, a warm smile crept across her face as she remembered where she was, with him.

Tali opened her eyes to see the room was illuminated, a strong ray of artificial sunlight pouring through the doorway, unevenly illuminating the wooden flooring and walls of the bedroom.

Each dust particle could be seen in the sunlight floating aimlessly through the air. The smile slowly faded from her face as she considered the breathing of Jon and the air that was filled with dust and bacteria.

She knew it was no harm to him and that was what upset her, something so easy for so many others and it could kill her. A sigh emanated from her lips and she tried to distract herself from daydreaming about ever being able to live normally, without her suit, without being a suit breach away from death.

_You are never going to live normally, Tali. Just get used to it already._

A sudden but slow shift underneath Talis head interrupted her thoughts and dragging her attention back to Jon who was now waking up.

Jon opened his eyes letting in the warm light and revealing his dreary blue eyes, his first waking observation of the warm mass wrapped across him and pressing down on his shoulder.

He smiled as he looked down to see Talis diamond eyes peering back at him through her purple visor.

"Morning, beautiful." He murmured softly, breaking the silence between them.

Tali tilted her head downward shying away from his compliment.

"Good morning." She replied softly but clearly happy with where she was.

Jon felt a wave of exhaustion roll over him, clearly still not caught up from all the sleep he had missed out on over the past weeks. Instead of falling back into his pillow and closing his eyes he began to sit up as Tali rolled off of him allowing him to move.

Jon slid off of the bed and onto his feet and stretched his back and arms before moving past the punching bag and into his closet, where he began to change into some clean clothes.

"How are you feeling?" He heard Tali ask from the other room with concern lacing her voice.

"Fine, biotics don't really get hangovers. A bit tired though." He replied as he pulled on a clean pair of pants and searched for a clean t-shirt to change into. He heard an exasperated sigh emanate from the other room as Tali began to speak again.

"That's not what I meant, Jon. I mean how are you mentally?"

Jon paused momentarily and thought about the question, searching for the answer. He wanted to badly to say he was fine, so that Tali wouldn't be concerned about him. Yet, he knew that it wasn't true. He was happy with Tali, but he knew the pain he had from losing Quinn would never fully heal.

Deciding that was the best way to explain it to Tali so that she would understand both sides of his thought process he pulled the shirt over his head.

Finished changing, Jon re-entered the bedroom and answered her honestly, the first time he felt he had done so in a long time.

Tali was standing now leaning towards one of her legs and her hand placed on her hip as if trying to intimidate him into being honest. The sun was shining in through the door behind her, making her silhouette shine with bright light.

He smiled as he approached her, appreciating how lucky he was to have her and how much she clearly cared. Even her stance portrayed it as she slightly leaned towards him as he approached.

"I dont know how I am honestly, I spent my whole life living for…" He paused, pain shooting through his eyes as he forced himself to say her name.

"...for Quinn, and now she's gone. I feel like I need to learn how to live again, for something else." He finished as Tali leaned against the dresser against the wall and he took her hands, looking down at them as if studying them. The sun shone through the doorway between them now. Laying the shadows of their intertwined fingers on the light floor.

"I'll never forget her, and the pain won't just go away like that. I'm not angry at myself anymore, if that's what you're asking."

_I'm angry at Saren, at them. _Jon said to himself as he thought about the ship that attacked the Normandy.

He quickly repressed the anger, tightening his hands on Talis slightly as if it pained him to push the rage away.

"Jon." Talis voice filled his ears, pushing away all the anger in him and replacing it with serenity, calmness.

He gazed back up at her, his lips parting slightly as he saw the sun piercing her visor, revealing an outline of her features.

Her diamond eyes, dimmed by the light but their features showing so much more to him. He could see her pupils constricting in the bright light. The outline of her nose and cheekbones reminding him of the moment they had on Alchera, of the first time she trusted him to let him see her face, to kiss her. Which was something he wanted so badly to do right now.

_I don't have to look very far for those new things to live for._

"I love you, I'll always be here for you." She pulled him in closer, looking up at him, her eyes shining brightly through the purple visor at him, her eyes locked with his.

Jon smiled he lightly brought his forehead to her visor leaning his against where her forehead would be, he closed his eyes and whispered.

"Thank you, Tali."

"For what?" Jon opened his eyes, still not quite accustomed to her selflessness.

"For everything, for being there for me, staying with me. I wouldn't know what to do…" he began to tear up, remembering how poorly he had treated her over the past few weeks.

Tali quickly shushed him, bringing her hand up to his mouth and placing two gloved fingers over it to stop him from grovelling.

"It's okay Jon." She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to bring her chin over his shoulder as she hugged him. Jon reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands on her slender back. After taking in a deep breath to regain his composure, he closed his eyes again enjoying the comfort she offered him as they stood in the bedroom, bathing in the sunlight that surrounded their bodies.

Eventually they parted as they reluctantly decided they could not embrace each other all day.

"So, what do you want to do?" Tali asked, realizing that today was the first day they had that wasn't full of debriefings or medical examinations. Jon rubbed the back of his neck, stumped by the same thought himself.

"I don't really feel like going out, we can just stay in, watch a vid maybe?" Talis body tensed up as if she was shocked with electricity.

"We could watch Fleet and Flotilla!" She squealed excitedly. Jon returned a quizzical look to her, not knowing a single thing about what she was so excited about.

"I've never seen that...vid." He cautiously stated, pushing his hand into his pocket awkwardly, playing with the penny he always kept with him, another one of his nervous habits.

"What? how have you not seen it? Everybody in the galaxy has seen it Jon. Oh, we are so watching that, it was my favorite movie growing up as a teenager."

"Okay, we can watch that." Jon replied, knowing full well he didn't truly have a voice in the matter. Tali squealed with excitement and followed him into the living room where they sat down on the couch.

Jon realized his fingers still toying with the penny in his pocket, a dull vengeful anger began to roar from the back of his mind as the image of the mysterious ship plagued his mind.

_They're going to pay._

He was pulled out of the infectious haze by Tali, moving his arm so that she could lean up against his chest and rest her head on his shoulder once more.

The anger quit, more reluctantly this time, once again replaced by serenity and calmness that left him in a state where barely anything could upset him. Even the universally cliche symphony music that rang out from the tv speakers as the main menu of Fleet and Flotilla appeared on the screen.

Talis squirmed with excitement once more before hitting play, Jon smirked once more in adoration at her excitement.

Peering down at her and admiring the beautiful patterns of her realk, and of all the other adornments. He lost himself in the wave like patterns for the first few seconds of the vid before his attention was forced back to it by Tali.

Jon peacefully sighed and watched the movie, enjoying the company of his saera.

* * *

Jon eyes widened in excitement as he heard the door open, he had been waiting for David to come home for what felt like hours now but had really only been half of one.

Kahlee had come home from her work about an hour earlier and had spent the first half hour finishing watching Fleet and Flotilla with him and Tali, which to Jons dismay, Kahlee was just as in love with the vid as Tali was. After the vid was over however, Kahlee and Tali had moved into a conversation about advanced AI technology and engineering. Tali having knowledge in both fields and Kahlee having a significant amount of experience in data management in AI technology led to Jon being left in the stone age, merely knowing how to perform simple hacks and hold a gun.

As a result of having no input on the conversation he had been left out of it, but had no excuse to leave so he had been waiting, impatiently for David to return so that he could find a reason to either leave the conversation or have somebody to talk too about any other subject.

David entered the living room and the women greeted him, but quickly moved back into their conversation. Jon took his opportunity and left the room, heading towards David who was now in the kitchen, searching through the fridge for something.

David heard Jon approaching and nodded to him before looking back into the fridge, he then reached in and pulled out two beers, one of which he handed to Jon.

Jon noticed David looked even more exhausted than he did yesterday, and how his hair was beginning to gray at his temples, and the large bags under his eyes only attested to that.

"Council?" Jon asked rhetorically, knowing full well that David had most likely been arguing with them all day.

David nodded his head and responded after taking a swig from his drink.

"They're refusing to acknowledge the reapers, they're saying that Sovereign was just a geth ship and that whatever attacked the Normandy was also the geth." He shook his head in frustration, letting out an exasperated sigh as Jons anger began to work its way back into him.

"How could they just ignore it? Any weapons expert in the galaxy could tell you that sovereign was far more advanced than anything the geth could create." Jon wanted nothing more than to continue ranting, to scream at the top of his lungs but the look of desperation in Davids eyes caused him halt if only for a second.

"I don't know, son. They just want everything to go back to normal. They're rebuilding the Citadel and everybody in council space is convinced that we are entering a new era of peace. Hell, they're barely acknowledging the attack on the Normandy. They're claiming it was either the geth or pirates with advanced technology."

Jon found his hand reaching into his pocket again, wishing that quinn was still there with him.

_She would know what to do. Have some way to prove to the council that they couldn't ignore this. Well if she can't do it then I will._

This time, Jon found reason in his anger, a purpose. Everybody was ignoring the threat of the reapers, even the alliance. That gave him all the more reason to do it himself.

"If they are going to ignore this then we have to do something about it, whether the council supports it or not." Jon set his drink down on the counter, the cold glass clinking as it hit the counter harder than he intended, he opened up his omni-tool searching for transportation crafts available for lease.

"Jon we have no leads on whoever attacked the Normandy, I'm all for going after them. But where could you even start? The only lead we have is that they most likely operate out of the Terminus systems." Jon finished booking a craft that he decided would fit his needs, a decommissioned six person crew alliance vessel named, _Venator_.

He looked up from his omni-tool making direct eye contact with Anderson, a wild fire of determination and anger mixing in his icy blue eyes. Jon answered Andersons question with one simple word, as if it could describe the whole of his anger and vindication.

"Omega."

* * *

**Sorry this was such a short chapter everybody I just felt like it needed to be there as a bridge into the plot of the story finally! It was a slow process but now we are finally there and I thank you all for your patience.**


	9. Four Black Eyes

Krotok Dher'far watched with four black eyes from a dark corner as the airlock to the ship opened, relieved to see that he was indeed in the right place. He continued to observe his mission, to make sure it was really who he was looking for.

The group stepped out of the ship onto the grimy walkway, illuminated by a dim yellow lighting and littered with scattered trash. The hallway was busy with members of all species, moving to and from in their dirty clothing, careful not to bump into anybody to avoid pickpockets.

The occupants of the hallway parted quickly for the newly entering group. The occupants of Omega generally knew better than to test the patience of a group of heavily armed strangers, especially when one of them was an asari and another was a krogan warlord wearing battle scarred armor.

Krotok waited patiently as the leader who he knew now was definitely Shepard, stopped in his tracks and turned his odd from side to side, taking in all of Omega with his eyes. The batarian let out a smile.

_First time he's been to Omega._

He continued to watch as they moved down the walkway closer to him, he activated his tactical cloak just to be safe. As the crew moved by him he eavesdropped on the conversation Shepard was having with the krogan.

"You sure this contact is good, Wrex?" Shepard asked, the krogan responded, unphased by the question and shrugging.

"All my contacts here vouch for him. Nobody really knows him and he is very new here but his data is apparently always good."

"Well lets just hope he can live up to his reputation for us." The leader finished speaking as he shuffled by a pair of fighting vorcha as they tore at each other with their talons, screeching and growling at each other.

Krotok stayed in his position until Shepards group was a safe distance in front of him, then he continued to follow them, staying out of sight and waiting for his opportune moment.

* * *

"Well, at least with all this extra time I can do some calibrating." Garrus quipped, his sniper rifle on his lap while the group waited in the apartment they had rented on the station. Garrus brought his rifle off of his lap and laid it across the counter he was sitting at.

"Or you could try talking to your friends." Liara called back sarcastically as she leaned against the counter next to him, placing two bottles on the counter.

Garrus looked up from his rifle peering at her as she waited for a response with a confident smirk on her face.

"But, I could always see if I can improve it and I need to keep practiced." Liara, clearly had been expecting this, she picked up the darker bottle waving it tantalizingly in front of Garrus whose mandibles flexed outward as he identified the turian brew.

"Hey that's my favorite, how did you know?" He asked, his voice raising in pitch slightly as he stood up, clearly deciding socializing was the better option. Liaras cheeks turned an even darker blue as she shifted her gaze away from him coyly.

"You told me, not too long ago. At the outing we had before Virmire." Garrus paused, considering her response while she shifted her feet uncomfortably. After a few seconds he shrugged his shoulders and moved to the living room to sit on the couch with Jon. Liara soon followed, awkwardly sitting on the chair adjacent to them, her face still flushed.

"How much longer we have to wait again? I'm ready to bash some skulls." Wrex harumphed impatiently and almost childishly getting a raised eyebrow from Jon.

"Only five hours Wrex, and were not bashing in any skulls you do know that right?" Jon clarified with concern in his voice, making sure Wrex understood the parameters of the mission.

"I know I know. It's just an exchange, lots of talking and no fun at all." He replied, once again making Jon feel like the seven hundred year old krogan was a four year old child.

_A psychotic four year old who is very skilled at killing...well everything._

"Wrex, It could be worse you know." Garrus assured the large Krogan who stood opposite them. Garrus glanced over at Liara who clearly was thinking the same thing as him.

"Yes it could, we could be stuck in the mako for five hours." she finished Garrus' thought getting a deep chuckle from Wrex and a scowl from Jon.

"Hey, I'm not that bad of a driver." He tried to defend himself, looking to his three companions for support, hoping any of them would back him up, none of them did. The silence was interrupted by Tali from the other room who was currently working on the terminal, trying to hack into the local power grid in case they needed a blackout in the building or even the block.

"Yes you are!" her voice came through the walls, the attacking trio broke out in raucous laughter at Jons demise.

"Well hey, we all came out of those situations alive."

"That we did, commander." Liara assured him, taking a sip from her water.

"But only barely." Garrus finished getting another small chuckle from the crewmembers.

* * *

"Alright thats where we're meeting, he said to come alone so we better make it look that way so we don't spook him." Jon clarified with his crew members as they waited a block away from the bar where the exchange was supposed to happen.

They all nodded in acknowledgement and he pulled up the blueprints of the surrounding area, figuring out the blind spots he would need covered in case things went badly.

"Garrus, I want you on the rooftop across the way watching the points of entry." He pointed to the specific roof and Garrus nodded as he began to consider the best way up.

"Liara I want you on the inside, you'll go in about ten minutes before I do. Wrex I need you on the back door, try to just look like a thug."

"What do you want me to do, Jon?" Tali chimed in from next to him. Jon looked around considering her skillsets and where she would be most useful.

"You're going in with Liara, try to act like part of the scene."

"Alright, let's go everybody. Get to your positions, he should be here in about half an hour."

The group scattered throughout the dimly lit street, each going in their own direction and trying not to attract any attention.

Jon watched Tali enter the bar followed by Liara. Seeing that the crew was out of sight he took a quick glance at his chrono to catch the time before leaning against the wall. His hand drifted to where his pocket, pulling out the penny he kept there. He flipped it between his fingers, watching the shiny metal reflect the dim reddish lighting of his surroundings. The features were barely noticeable to his eye as he lets his thoughts drift while he was alone.

_I'll find them_.

Jon thought to himself repeatedly, thinking of all the memories they had taken away from him.

Jon stayed that way for a few minutes, his anger matching the lighting, until he heard a sharp crackle in his ear accompanied by Garrus' voice

"In position, Shepard"

"Okay, good." Jon acknowledged Garrus and pushed himself off of the wall. He put the penny back in his pocket, pushed his shoulders back confidently and strode to the entrance of the bar, wishing he had his armor on as he felt like he was being watched, as if eyes had been following him since they first came to this station.

Jon entered the bar to see it was more of a club than anything else, his ears were immediately assaulted by loud pulsing music and strobe lights that made the dancing seen in front of him look like a collection of pictures flashing before him.

Navigating his way through the crowd and towards the back of the area where he was supposed to be meeting his contact, he scanned the area searching for Tali and Liara. Peering through the throng of all different species of aliens he found the shy Liara, dancing and unsuccessfully trying not to draw attention to herself as more than a few bystanders were already watching her and trying to dance with her.

Jon continued to move towards the bar in the back of the loud room. Reaching the bar he sat down on a stool as far towards the wall as he could get so he had a better view of everything going on. He continued to search for Tali and after a minute decided he would ask her on the comms.

His search was interrupted by a familiar synthesized voice from behind him which immediately caught his attention causing him to turn around.

"Can I get you anything?" Tali asked him innocently from behind the bar, a hand on her hip as she pretended to be the bartender. Jon stared at her incredulously, unsure of how to react and slightly curious as to how she managed to secure this position in only a few minutes.

"No thanks, I'm just waiting for somebody. Wheres the real bartender?" Tali tilted her head to show a smile and a hint of pride at actually managing to surprise him.

"Oh don't worry, he's out back waiting with Wrex." A raised hand and the face of an impatient asari on the other side of the bar caught Talis attention who shrugged at Jon and went to serve the asari patron.

Jon smiled and felt a hint of pride at how much Tali had grown since he had first met her. Her timid shyness was now being replaced by a resourceful confidence in both her body language and her personality.

_Shes grown a lot since I first met her._

A human sat down next to Jon, who figured he was around forty years old, his face was gaunt and his body wiry but clearly strong.

"Commander Shepard, I was a bit surprised when I figured out you were looking for information here of all places."

"Do you have the data?" Jon asked, trying to make the exchange as quickly as possible.

"I have plenty and then some." He replied somewhat sarcastically but didn't let a smile cross his face, giving Jon the feeling that this man was running from something. The information broker continued to speak, this time letting a small smile run across his thin lips.

"In fact why don't you call over your quarian friend, I'm sure she would like to hear as well. In fact she might know more about what I'm about to tell you anyways." Jon didn't reply, quickly trying to evaluate the situation, did the other man have people here as well, lining up shots on his crew as they spoke, or was this man just observant and good at his job.

"Don't worry, Commander. I came alone, I wasn't expecting you to anyways. Trust me though, the data I have for you is good." Jon looked over to Tali at the other side of the bar watching from a distance. He raised up his hand and waved her over as the contact pulled an OSD out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the countertop.

Once Tali had reached the bar he greeted her with a nod of his head and looked between her and Shepard while telling them of his findings.

"You're looking for the collectors." Jon opened his mouth to object to how ridiculous that was, having accepted the collectors as a myth long ago. Tali, however, continued to listen intently, her attention caught by the name drop. The contact interrupted Jon before he could speak.

"Now before you go saying they are a myth, go and ask miss Zorah here, I'm sure that if my data here won't be enough then her word will be." Jon looked over to Tali who stood on the other side of the bar both of her hands placed open with her palms on the counter.

Tali seeing he was looking to her for her input bowed her head in shame before speaking.

"A few years ago, The admiralty board excommunicated a quarian who tried selling quarians to the collectors in exchange for unknown technology. He shamed our entire species, risked the lives of our entire fleet and for some reason we let him live." Anger and spite rose up in her voice as she spoke over the loud thumping music surrounding the three of them.

Jon felt the need to reach out to her and place his hand on her but resisted it, knowing now was not the time. Instead he made a mental note of it and would make sure to talk to her about it after the exchange.

Jon noticed that their contact was just as sympathetic towards Tali as he was, even if with a bit of mirth.

"If it makes you feel any better, he is dead." He held an odd sense of sentimentality in his voice as he said it. As if he regretted the situation but not the action. Tali look over at him with her eyes gleaming, almost in excitement.

"How do you know?"

"Because I killed him." He told her matter of factly, without any pause or delay.

"But thats not what we're here for." He continued as Talis eyes widened, clearly surprised at the odd circumstances.

"Heres all the data I have on the collectors. Some of it is dated by a few months but its good nonetheless." He slid the OSD over to Jon, its shiny black surface reflecting the bright colors of the neon lights. Shepard quickly pocketed the OSD and transferred the discussed payment over to their contacts account.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Commander Shepard." He stood up from his stool as he said his goodbyes and nodded to Tali who returned his goodbye cautiously, not trusting a person who was so open about murder, even if it was somebody who she hated passionately.

"You as well…" Jon paused, indicating he was waiting for the other man to reveal his name. He stopped in his tracks, considering his next action carefully, the dim blue lighting making his brown eyes looking even darker than they were, as if he was a demon.

"Paul." He answered, almost morosely the way Shepard heard it.

Paul turned around and moved through the crowd disappearing into the plethora of dancing aliens as quickly as he appeared.

Jon double checked on the OSD then nodded towards the exit to Tali who then pinged Wrex up on the comms as she came around the bar and began to walk towards the front exit with Jon.

"You can let him go now Wrex, we're all done here." Tali quipped humorously while carefully navigating through the crowd, Liara joined them as Jon made eye contact with her and nodded towards the exit. Her blue skin covered in a sheen of sweat and her face looking exasperated.

"Rough night?" Shepard asked Liara who only sighed and yelled back over the pumping music.

"I had no idea, so many people could try to pick me up in such a short time."

Jon only replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...yeah, sorry about that."

Liara gave him a reassuring nod and her best smile to show it was alright, he smiled back before moving over to Tali who he wrapped his arm around and pulled her close to him, He could have sworn he heard what he could only describe as a purr emanating from her as she pressed against him and wrapped her arm around his torso as well.

"Let's go see what we've got, shall we?"

Tali leaned her head against his upper arm and peered up at him, her eyes locking with his. Making him feel as if everything was silent and they were alone, that she was all there was.

"I'll follow you anywhere."

* * *

The crew walked through an empty street of Omega, the small kiosks and storefronts having been shut down for the stations night cycle only a few hours before. The echoes of shuttles, clubs, and the din of other people speaking could be heard in the distance. Where they were currently, they only encountered a few lone pedestrians who generally got out of their way quickly hoping that Shepard and his crew wouldn't attack them.

Garrus was currently leading the way back to their apartment while arguing over the most effective assault rifle for dealing with husks with Wrex, who simply ended the argument by claiming that shotguns were the best option, which Tali quickly backed up.

As a result of Tali siding with Wrex, Garrus had quickly called upon Shepard and Liara for help with argument. Liara abstained, claiming that she thought they each had their own benefits and downsides. So Garrus had called on Shepard as his last resort. "Come on Shepard, you gotta back me up here."

Jon shook his head in disbelief at how seemingly immature this argument was. Something that a few years ago he would have chastised his crew for, now however he was humored by it and wanted to be involved with his crew who were consequently his family and friends.

_Not all of my family though. _His thoughts returned to the little girl with green eyes, Quinn.

A distant look overcame his eyes as he continued to think about her, he walked mindlessly with his crew, disattached from the conversation, and not hearing the shuffle of about two dozen feet rushing behind him.

"Shit, get down!" Wrex's loud voice boomed through Shepards head, shoving him out of his stupor only to be thrown into another as a biotic wave hit him. His world began to spin violently as the telltale staccato of assault rifles and shotguns assaulted his ears, the spinning stopped within a second with the smashing of glass and all of his air being forced from his chest as he landed heavily on the floor of what appeared to be a storefront.

His instincts kicked in and he got up onto his hands and knees, the sound of glass chrushing under his knees and palms reached his ears, but he ignored the multiple cuts on his hands. He saw that everybody else had been thrown by biotics as well and was additionally recovering on the floor, except for Wrex.

_Holy shit, did he biotically throw us all?_

Jon grabbed Tali by her forearm and pulled her into cover behind the counter with him where Garrus and Liara had moved to as well. Gunfire erupted in the store, the counter they were behind vibrating with each shot that hit the other side.

Jon pulled out his pistol, letting out a string of curses out loud for not wearing armor or bringing more weapons, All he had was his Predator and his shields. Tali and Liara were similarly equipped. Jon was grateful that Garrus had armor and a sniper rifle at least but that was useless if they were pinned down.

There was a break in the enemy gunfire after the loud thundering noise of a biotic grenade erupted. Jon peaked over the counter to see some ten heavily armored batarians running for cover in the street outside and preparing for another assault. The window was soon filled with a large red armored mass which Jon quickly recognized as Wrex as he threw himself into the store with his comrades.

Jon opened fire on a batarian lining up a shot on Wrex. He fired two shots the first hitting the crate the enemy was hidden behind and the second hitting his shield on his chest, causing him to quickly retreat back into cover.

The rest of the crew popped out of cover as well, laying down suppressing fire while Wrex moved into cover behind a display and pulled out his large Claymore shotgun with a toothy grin on his face as he primed his weapon.

"Finally some killing!" The crew was pushed back behind their cover as the Batarians returned fire, lighting up the dim red hued street with flashes of red and yellow. Jon gritted his teeth and shot back as much as he could before his shields depleted. Tali activated her defense drone to try and distract their enemies.

Liara yelled over the roar of the gunfire with grim humor as the walls behind them chipped away and the storefront was obliterated with mass accelerated rounds. "Now would be a good time for an assault rifle and a shotgun!"

* * *

**There is chapter 9 for you, I had a lot of trouble writing this one as I have been incredibly busy with school this week. So I am sorry to say I am going on a small hiatus for the next two weeks so I can catch up on my work and write without worrying about publishing. Once again thanks for reading, please review or message me. I will see you all again in two weeks, on that you have my word. Or maybe sooner if I get some serious inspiration out of nowhere. Also I hope you caught the reference to the Mass Effect novels, if you have read them of course. If you haven't I suggest you do.**


	10. The Assault Rifle and the Shotgun

"Now would be a good time for an assault rifle and a shotgun!"

Jon grimaced at Liaras sense of humor, not appreciating the timing of it.

"You've been spending too much time with Garrus, Liara!" Tali yelled over the roar of gunfire.

"How so?" Garrus shouted back at Tali as he popped out of cover to fire a quick shot with his sniper rifle. His mandible twitched, clearly satisfied with his shot.

"Scoped and dropped!" Jon smiled at hearing his turian comrade use his catchphrase. Tali grabbed a metal orb from her belt and lobbed it over the counter into the street.

"Go for the optics Chatika! How so? Because that was an awful use of sarcasm that she clearly got from you!" Jon heard a small break in the enemies salvo, clearly distracted by Tali's attack drone and the non-stop shotgun fire from Wrex.

Jon leaned around the corner of the counter, his handgun at the ready. He spotted one of the enemies flush from his cover, currently being shocked by Chatika's taser. Jon quickly pulled his gun up and aimed down the sight, his mouth twisting into a small, content grin as he squeezed the trigger once, twice, and a third time; each shot hit its target perfectly. The first two taking down the batarians kinetic barrier and the third tearing through his neck, spraying orange blood across the wall behind him.

_Nine left._

"Nice shot Shepard, I have to agree with the quarian on that one. That was bad, T'soni." Wrex's voiced boomed over the now increasing gunfire.

"I was aiming for his head." Jon chuckled as he went back into cover an angered Tali.

"My name is not quarian, Wrex! It's Tali'zorah Nar'Rayya and I have a shotgun, so you better remember it!" Tali screamed back at the krogan after firing back at their enemies over the counter.

"Where's that shotgun now, Tali?" Garrus' metallic tinged voice rang out, cutting over the loud crack of his sniper rifle again. Tali replied just as quickly.

"This is what I mean! Awful sense of humor!"

"Guys, witty banter later please? We have more pressing issues at the moment!" Jon yelled at them as he looked for an exit plan. They were outgunned and outnumbered. He knew there was no way they would all make it in an all out gunfight, they needed to gain an advantage somehow or retreat.

Jon located an exit in the back of the storefront and peaked around the corner to time his move. Jon could hear the batarians yelling at each other, their guttural language not completely translating over the disruption of the gunfire. Their voices reminding him of something he had refused to think of in a long time.

His vision blurred and he was no longer in the unlit storefront, the gunshots were muffled by distance and walls. He didn't feel the presence of Tali next to him nor the gun in his hand. Instead he felt alone as he recognized where he was. His childhood home, hidden away in the compartment while batarians enslaved his family. He looked to his right to see Quinn wasn't there, instead he could hear her outside with his mother, crying and begging for their captors to let them go. Jon's vision blurred again, this time with anger, his hand began to shake and he desperately tried to open the door. This was his attempt to save his family from the people he hated so much. The people who took everything from him.

Jon screamed in frustration as the door refused to budge; he kicked it and punched it and put all of his weight in it but it refused to move. Two gunshots rang out in his ears and the crying stopped. Jon fell against the door, realizing he failed, that he had let them die. He screamed out in anger, at himself and his enemies, until his throat was raw. He swore to himself that he would never let that happen again.

"Jon!" A familiar voice called him out of his stupor and back into the storefront, which was being lit up by enemy gunfire. Tali's visor was a foot away from his face' her eyes looking at him with concern and her hand gripping his shoulder tightly. Jon looked back at her and nodded, attempting to reassure her that he was okay.

Jon took the OSD that they had retrieved earlier out of his pocket and handed it to Tali, who wound her hand around the display. He took her hand in both of his and carefully enclosed the OSD between them, his hands lingering on hers before bringing one back to his gun and the other to the ground.

"I have a plan. Keep the data safe." He indicated towards the OSD as he prepared himself to move for the exit as quickly as possible. Yelling over the cacophony of gunshots between both sides, Jon gave his orders to his team.

"Wrex, Garrus, Tali, lay down some covering fire on my go. Liara throw some of their cover out of the way! I'm going to go out the back and flank them!" His crew looked at him with confident gazes, trusting his judgement. Tali held back her concern, knowing now was not the time, but praying to the ancestors that he wouldn't do anything _too_ reckless.

"Be careful, Jon." Shepard looked over at her, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

"I'll try my best, _saera._" He turned back to peek around the counter, then back to the exit he would be running for. Jon calmed his breathing and focused on the rough leather encasing the knife he had retrieved from his boot; pistol in his right hand and knife gripped with his left.

_I'm not failing again._

"Now!" The crew all stood from their cover at once. Liara hit a large crate with a singularity, causing it to rise and float aimlessly as it left the two batarians behind it without cover. Their confusion was quickly replaced with shock as a hail of gunfire hit them; obliterating their shields instantly. Shepard's crew began to focus their fire on the rest of the enemies as Jon ran for the back of the store. The commander hit the interface with the back of his left hand and the door slid open. He quickly turned left and moved into the alley way, the barrel of a gun raised and aimed at his head.

Jon's eyes widened as he quickly identified the enemy batarian, allowing his instincts to kick in alongside years of military training. Knowing he was close enough to overtake the batarians assault rifle, Jon brought his right hand up and backhanded the side of the rifle, slapping it off the side as the batarian fired. Chips from the buildings face showered them from the mass accelerated rounds and lit up the alley way temporarily.

The batarian quickly dropped the weapon, knowing he wouldn't have another opportunity with it, and charged Jon. The enemy threw his weight into the others stomach, the two quickly barrelled over onto the ground with the batarian on top. The batarian growled in anger and grounded Jon with his knees settled on either side of the commanders, who had become winded during the fight.

Shepard brought his pistol up in between him and the batarian, hoping to get off a shot that the others shields couldn't block. Jon's move was easily countered by his enemy, who was significantly less winded, and slapped the gun out of Jon's hand, causing it to skip across the ground of the alleyway a few feet away.

The batarian used the same hand to bring a punch down to Jon's cheek, igniting his face and the back of his head with pain as his skull slammed the hard floor beneath him. Knowing he would most likely be knocked out by another punch like that, Jon felt a surge of adrenaline pump through his veins and everything seemed to slow down. His vision focusing on his enemies right fist as it came towards him once more. Jon summoned what energy he could on a short notice, feeling his biotic amplifiers humming with energy.

Moving as quickly as he could, Jon aimed his bare palms towards the chest of his enemy and threw a biotic push. He was surprised that it was actually strong enough to throw the batarian off of him and onto his own back, a loud crack emanating from the collision which Jon assumed was the batarians head hitting the floor. His body didn't move to recover, revealing that he was either unconscious or dead.

Jon's vision began to go black at the edges due to the injury his skull had taken. He was on the brink of going unconscious, coupled with his unplanned use of biotics exhausted him.

Fighting the urge to close his eyes, Jon rolled over and stood up, anger flaring in his eyes.

_I'm not failing again._

He bent over, picked up his pistol and stepped over his enemies motionless form, running down the alley towards his objective.

* * *

"Out of thermal clips!"

"Same here!" Tali replied to Garrus as they fell back into cover. The enemy group had managed to recover quickly from the havoc Liaras biotics had played on them. The batarians now had Shepard's crew pinned down once again and were advancing while laying down controlled bursts.

"Where is Shepard?!" Liara yelled to nobody in particular, clearly beginning to panic. Tali placed her hand on Liaras shaking shoulder clearly understanding her panic.

_She's an archaeologist not a soldier, she wasn't trained for this kind of thing._

"He'll be here, Liara." Tali assured her asari friend, her blue eyes filled with worry that were once filled with worry now turned more towards confidence as she nodded her head. She recollected all the other times Shepard had come through in these situations.

Tali peaked over the counter just in time to see the seven approaching enemies were almost to the front of the store now. The enemies drive was quickly halted by a hail of gunfire from their right distracting them and dropping two of the seven remaining enemies.

"Shepard's got them distracted, hit them now!" Tali informed her comrades as she pulled out her karambit combat knife.

As soon as Tali spoke, a figure from her right entered, his entire body crackling in energy. Despite the majority of his details being masked and blurred by the biotics he was summoning, Tali quickly recognized him as Shepard. This launched her into a state of confusion and a rising a series of questions, specifically who was helping them kill the batarians and why.

Tali watched in awe as Jon expertly dispatched a distracted batarian with a biotic lift. He approached his victim and finished him with a biotically enhanced punch, causing the batarians armor and bones to crunch and instantly stop his heart.

By the time the batarians had noticed Shepard, he had already moved to his next victim. He slashed the batarians throat with precision, spilling orange blood down his matte black armor and quickly forming a pool on the floor. Jon got behind his dying victims body and used him as a human shield, proceeding to fire on the rest of the batarians with his pistol.

Tali and Garrus decided now was their time to join the fight, only about five seconds after Jons entrance. They vaulted the counter simultaneously and ran towards their enemies while they were engaged with Jon and their unseen ally.

As Tali approached the window she picked her targets. The first only a few feet away from the window and firing at their mysterious friend, the second was about five feet past her first enemy and had her back to her while firing at Jons dissipating cover.

Still in full run, Tali stepped onto the low ledge of the window and jumped off of it, launching herself towards her first enemy. Using the downward force of her fall, coupled with her arm strength, she brought her knife down on the batarians skull, causing a loud cracking sound as the bone splintered and parted for her sharpened knife, instantly killing him. His body hit the ground with a thud, her knife left in his skull with its blade buried all the way to the handle. Tali landed on the ground at the same time and threw herself into a roll to save herself from stumbling.

She stepped out of the roll and stepped next to her second target, who was still firing his pistol at Jon. She quickly brought her left leg out and kicked him at the back of his knee, causing him to lose his balance. She followed her initial kick with a balled left fist which she brought down on the inside of his elbow, his arm buckling with his hand gripping to the handle of his gun. With her right hand she guided the barrel to his own face and pulled the trigger, the barrel ignited a bright yellow, the loud crack rang through her ears and her interpretation of time slowed down as sparks and death flowed out of the end of the gun towards her target.

The mass accelerated round instantly obliterated his face, gore splattering across their initial surroundings. Blood mixed with connective tissue rained on her visor, blocking off half of her view, leaving her vision darkened. His body fell to the floor and his hand on the pistol slid out from underneath her fingers, leaving it to her as if it was a parting gift.

Tali stared down at the pulpy mass of what was once a head and realization dawned on her. She had done it all so calculating. She had killed multiple people since she had joined Jon and Quinn, but not like this. Then it was either self defense or geth, which she didn't even consider people anyways. But this, she thought to herself as she stared at the lump of gore, was murder. She did it without hesitation, and so gruesomely and cold. Her hands began to shake and her knees began to wobble. The motor control in her hands failed and her gift slipped out of her hand, clattering on the hard street by her feet where it remained. Her calm breathing turned into a ragged exaggerated excuse as she hyperventilated inside her mask, her face heating up.

"Tali, are you okay?" Jon murmured as he trotted up behind her. She turned her head up to look at him, still hyperventilating, her eyes welled up even more as his own widened, clearly seeing the gore covering her. A rivulet of blood dripped down her visor, blocking off her vision of him. Tali shakily brought her hand up and tried wiping as much of the gore off as possible, leaving smears from the blood.

Now she could see Jon better and wished that she hadn't wiped anything away, a look of shock on his face as he approached her steadily and cautiously.

"Boss, we got company." Garrus called out from behind her, thankfully taking Shepard's attention away from her.

Jon cast one long glance at her, shock and concern molding his countenance. She could tell he wanted to say something, but there were more important matters at hand. He reached down and picked up an assault rifle at his feet and aimed at the approaching figure, wearing a black suit of armor tinted with a crimson red. He was carrying a Gorgon assault rifle in one large hand, something even Jon wasn't sure he was capable of. He quickly recognized the figure as a batarian by his size and form; his significantly larger, helmeted head was a dead giveaway.

Jon shouldered his weapon and pressed his cheek against the metal stock of the rifle. The coolness giving him a sense of calmness and serenity as he aimed at the chest of the now halted batarian. Garrus approached as well, shouldering a rifle he had picked up from the batarian he had killed prior. Wrex and Liara also joined the firing line. Tali picked up the discarded pistol and aimed it at the batarian as they waited for him to speak. She found that her arm was shaking too much and her body threatened to crumple if she so much as moved.

"Who are you and why did you help us?" Jon inquired, his voice laced with the demanding tone of a leader. He wanted the batarian to give him a reason to shoot him.

"I've been looking for you Shepard…" Jon pressed his cheek tighter to the stock as the other spoke, preparing his shot, the trigger still warm from its previous owner.

"Apparently the hegemony is as well, you and I have a common enemy in them...and others." The batarians low voice echoed throughout the street which had become a long, abandoned warzone. His words hummed through Shepard's ears as the commander attempted to tunnel his focus away from being thrown back into the hidden compartment, where he heard so many similar guttural voices as a child.

"A common enemy in the hegemony, can't say I've ever heard that from a batarian." Jon spat, putting as much spite into the word 'batarian' as possible.

"Shepard, we've got to get out of here, scavengers are going to show up soon and there may be more on the way." Wrex stated firmly as he scanned their surroundings, making sure nobody would get the drop on them again.

"I know you hate batarians, Shepard. I can't say I blame you, in fact, that's part of the reason why I'm here. I need your help, and by the looks of things you could use mine."

Tali's breathing finally began to stabilize, but her body still shook uncontrollably. This was earning her a curious glance from the batarian, which in turn, caused her to shake even more as her mind replayed the kills in her head.

_I murdered them._

"If you aren't with the hegemony then who are you and what do you plan to help us with?"

The batarian hit a button on his assault rifle, causing it to collapse as he placed it on his back. This eased some of the tension from the situation as Garrus and Liara lowered their weapons slightly, Shepard showed no such courtesy.

He raised his hands up to his helmet and placed a palm on each side as he pressed the release clamps. As the helmet was removed it revealed a dark, burnt bronze skin and four black eyes, eyes that spoke of seeing far too many horrible deeds.

"I am Krotok Dher'farr, I want to help you destroy the collectors." This time, Shepard lowered his rifle.

"How do you know about the collectors?" Jon asked, his voice a less spiteful than before.

"Thats information I will willingly share with you…" the Krotok glanced around him, indicating his concern and the urgency of moving somewhere more safe.

"...elsewhere." Jon held his rifle in place while he considered if he could trust Krotok or not, silence ensued and tensions rose once more as the rest of the crew prepared for another potential fight.

"Fine." Jon gave in, lowering his rifle.

"Let's get somewhere safe, then you are going to tell me everything you know, hegemony included." He added the last bit, letting venom seep back into his words as he turned to his crew.

"How's everybody doing on weapons and ammo?"

The crew responded in a varied series and versions of not good, Tali excluded who still remained silent.

"Grab what you can from the dead and get ready to move." Jon informed them all sternly. They quickly jumped to action, becoming vultures as they picked spare thermals and weapons from their enemies carcass'.

As the crew bustled around them, with Krotok waiting calmly and watchfully, Jon approached Tali, who continued to shake and remain as timid as the day he met her.

"Hey, What's wrong?" He placed his hands on her shoulders in comfort, her focus straying away from the grime and blood that stained his hands. He gently squeezed her shoulders, trying to get her attention as Tali still failed to make eye contact. She gave in after a few seconds and turned to face him, afraid to see the shock in his eyes again.

"I...I just, I've never done anything like that before, Jon. I didn't have to do that to them. I practically slaughtered them." She bowed her head in shame as his eyes softened, a pained expression overcame him. Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face, feeling cool against her still burning skin.

"Ready to move, Shepard." Garrus stated, dragging Jon's attention towards the rest of the crew all standing at the ready, having picked up the batarian assault rifles and thermal clips.

Tali looked back up to meet Jon's gaze, they held each others stare for only a moment, just enough time to tell each other, without words, that they would talk about this later when they were safe.

"Are you good on supplies?" Tali asked him, attempting to bring him back to the matter at hand. Jon frowned as he released his hands from her shoulders.

"Shields are fried, good on thermals." He stepped back from her and slightly lost his balance, becoming dizzy and lightheaded. He slowly brought his hand up to the back of his head, gently brushing it against where it collided with the street in his fight in the alley.

"And I think I have a concussion." He added as he brought his hand back to his vision to see it smeared with red blood.

"Keelah, Jon! You didn't think to maybe put some medi-gel on it?" Jon shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"We'll worry about it when we are somewhere safe, come on." Tali was prepared to protest, pulling out a tube of medi-gel, but they were interrupted by Krotok yelling to the group as he shouldered his rifle.

"Contact!" Jon saw him first, the batarian he fought in the alley had recovered and he was aiming his assault rifle at Tali. She was about to be caught in the crossfire if Jon didn't make a decision.

_I'm not failing again. _He told himself as he looked down into Tali's eyes, remembering the first time he saw them without a mask in the way, the way they shined and glimmered in the light, as if hope itself manifested in them.

He was too weak to summon a biotic barrier on such short notice and his concussion only made it worse. Jon repositioned his hand on Tali's shoulder and pushed her to the side once the batarian fired this first shot. It was deflected by Tali's shields, the second shot that followed barely an eighth of a second later depleted her shields. By this time Jon had her out of the way and the third hit him just below the right side of his rib cage, tearing through his body and shooting out the other side. It sent him into a fit of unbelievable agony and pushed all of the breath out of him. Jon wanted to yell out in pain as he brought up his assault rifle to return fire, but no scream came out.

Garrus and Wrex pulled the triggers on their guns, hitting the batarian square in the chest and bringing him down right after the second and third shots hit Jon, the second hitting the lower left side of his rib cage which elicited a sickening series of cracks as it shattered bone. The third shot hit directly below his left clavicle, the force hitting him on the upper end of his body knocked him backwards as he let out the last of his breath. He collapsed on his back on the dirty street, dirt and grime instantly clinging to his sweat and blood covered arms and back as he writhed in pain.

"Shit! Shepard is down!" The crew rushed to his side, making sure there the batarian was dead and there was nobody else to ambush them. Tali crawled to Jon from where he had pushed her down. Her jaw dropped in shock as everything happened so quickly she barely had time to comprehend it. Jon coughed painfully and reached his hand out to her as Liara immediately went to applying medi-gel to slow the bleeding.

Tali took his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly as he coughed again, this time a bit of blood came out of his mouth and spattered across his lips. She tried to speak to him, but found no words as she opened and closed her mouth aimlessly, panic overtaking her.

"I'm going to need to put him under, slow down his heart rate." Liara almost yelled to everybody, as if she needed their permission to do whatever she could to save him. Garrus handed Liara a small medkit and she drew out a syringe full of a clear liquid, took off the cap and immediately injected it into Shepard's neck.

Jon's ragged breathing instantly slowed down and his eyes that were still locked with Tali's began to flutter.

"It's going to be okay, Jon" Tali told him as his eyes closed and he went unconscious, his body going limp and the hand he had locked with Talis loosened but she held onto it still.

"We need to get him to an actual doctor, immediately." Liara stated firmly with panic lacing her voice as she looked to each member of the crew frantically, her eyes begging them to know of a place nearby. None of them did.

"I know of a doctor, one district over." Krotok spoke, causing the crew to snap their heads in his direction. Most of them had forgotten he was even there. Krotok looked down at Jon and Tali swore she what she could only describe as pity in his eyes. Something she never thought she would see from a batarian towards a human.

What happened next shocked her even more as he put his assault rifle on his back and walked to stand over Jons limp body. Tali watched in disbelief as the large batarian bent over and scooped up Jons body, cradling him against his armored chest like a wounded comrade.

"Follow me." Krotok said without a hint of shame in his voice as he carried a human in his arms. Tali noticed the rest of the crew had jaws dropped as well, including Wrex which looked more like he was hungry than shocked. Tali stood up and readied her weapon, as best as she could, still unable to raise it without her entire arm shaking. The rest of the crew followed suit and Krotok took the lead with Garrus and Wrex at his sides, weapons at the ready as they ran as fast as Krotok could with Jon in his arms.


	11. It's a Shame

Miranda spoke to the rooms other occupant with inferiority, knowing full well her position to her superior. "We were lucky, her helmet kept her brain mostly intact." She said, looking through the observation window at the operating room in front of them.

Miranda stood confidently with a hand on her hip as she watched the cluster of surgical machines work effortlessly on their subject, replacing shattered bones with light alloys and repairing obliterated muscles.

The Illusive Man stood next to her, wearing his typical grey suit, his synthetic eyes watched the surgery as well.

"Use whatever you need to bring her back, as she was." He added the last part sternly making sure she understood not to change the subject, or add any control chips like she had originally asked.

"Understood, sir." Miranda surrendered, accepting that what he said went, and was not to be argued with.

"How much funding will the project have?" She asked, her Australian accent echoing through the empty cold room they were in. She tore her eyes away from the surgery to make eye contact with him, he turned to her briefly, the light pouring through the window reflecting off of his ghostly blue eyes.

"As much as you need. Bringing Quinn Shepard back is worth however much money and time we can pour into her. Bring her back to life and see to it that she wakes up, I'll take care of the cost."

"It's a shame that we lost her in the first place. The Shepards could be out fighting the reapers, now the reapers have a head start." Miranda replied to The Illusive Man. He turned his back to her and walked towards the door, he stopped at the threshold and craned his neck, leaving the left side of his face exposed to her.

"Yes, but now we have leverage, if she wakes up that is." The enigma Miranda knew as her boss then turned and left without any sort of goodbye, leaving the room no colder than it was in his presence.

She turned back to the surgery on the body she had just fought so hard to recover. She quickly went through a mental list of everything they would need to do to bring Quinn Shepard back to life. Unsure of how most of it would work, but she knew the Illusive Man wouldn't give her this project if he thought she couldn't do it.

She found herself getting caught on one part that was completely out of her control, she could bring Quinn back to life possibly with all the tech recovered from Saren and Sovereign, but she had no control over waking her from the coma Quinns brain would undoubtedly be in upon revival.

Miranda whispered to herself as she bowed her head in contemplation. "What if she doesn't wake up?"

* * *

"He's waking up!" He barely registered the voice of the woman speaking, it sounded familiar and calming to him. His eyes cracked open, instantly regretting his decision as bright white light assaulted his dilated pupils nearly blinding him. A black silhouette appeared in the center of the bright light, casting a shadow over his pained body.

He recognized her as his eyes adjusted and he identified the purple realk and eyes glowing behind her mask. His hazy mind got lost in the realk, his eyes wondering through it's flowing pattern that he admired so much.

"Tali." he barely whispered, he realized quickly that he could barely breathe. The mere whisper sent him into a coughing fit and he felt a warm substance across the inside of his mouth and splatter out onto his cheeks and neck.

Tali watched in horror, her eyes widening as Jon coughed in pain and struggled to breathe, she looked over to the salarian across the table from her who was expertly preparing equipment. He picked up a syringe of anesthetic and injected Jon with it, Tali looked back down at Jon who still stared up at her as he struggled for his own life, gasping and staring up at her, begging her to help him with his eyes and grasping at her arm. She winced in pain at his grip as his hand tightened still, refusing to give in to the anesthetic.

She waited what felt like hours but what was only truly seconds as he slipped into unconsciousness, his painful gasping turning into a slower less labored version.

Tali felt absolutely helpless and terrified, he was dying, running out of oxygen and would bleed out soon and there was nothing she could do but hope that the doctor could save him.

"Must operate immediately." The salarian stated calmly with his calculating voice. Tali barely registered him as she watched Jons begging eyes flutter and close, a pained expression across his eyebrows. and blood covering his mouth down all the way to his waist.

The salarian placed a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention and causing her to look up at him, he stared back at her with a sympathy that she did not think salarians to be capable of.

"Please, miss. Need you to leave now, wait with your friends outside. Patients safety is paramount."

Tali nodded her head somberly, wringing her hands nervously. Hesitantly, she turned from Jon and walked out of the room as quickly as possible, hoping she wouldn't faint. She entered the waiting room of the clinic they were currently at, the rest of the crew and Krotok all stared at her with a large range of emotions that she couldn't pinpoint.

A wave of lightheadedness came over her, her vision tunneled and began to black out and her knees began to shake as she stared blankly ahead of her. Tali let out a sigh and took in a deep breath hoping it would help her get some oxygen to her brain and stop her from fainting. Instead she let out a choked sob and began to cry. She gave into her weakened knees and fell to the floor, sobbing and hating her mask even more as it kept her from wiping away the tears.

Tali didn't notice Liara closing in on her. The asari knelt in front of her and wrapped her arms around Tali, bringing her into a long hug. Liara whispered gently in her ear, her voice shaking. "It will all be okay, Tali."

Tali returned the favor and hugged Liara as well, closing her eyes to try and fight off her dizziness.

The two held each other until Tali's breathing stabilized and the tears subsided. Liara decided they should move to more comfortable seating while they waited and stood up, leaving Tali still kneeling on the floor. The asari reached her hand down in front of Tali to help her stand up and spoke.

"Come on, we should at least be comfortable while we wait." Tali nodded, she took Liaras hand and pulled herself up back onto her feet which she then looked at while she moved to the plain benches bolted to the walls. She was too embarrassed to make eye contact, the crew was her family without a doubt in her mind, but she still did not feel comfortable being so vulnerable in front of people, except for Jon. The thought of Jon laying on the table covered in blood, set her back into a fray of emotion. This time it was one of anxiety and impatience as the clock ticked by and they all waited impatiently for the doctor, not knowing whether they should be scared of his arrival, or comforted.

* * *

Footsteps. It was the only noise to be heard in the small waiting room for the past three hours. Tali had since given up on waiting and sitting on the bench next to Liara. She was now on a pacing path between the entrance of the room to the other end where the locked door with Jon on the other side resided. The rest of the crew had clearly become impatient and nervous as well. Garrus lightly drummed the stock of his rifle with one of his taloned fingers, barely audible over Talis loud footsteps. Liara had closed her eyes over an hour ago and began to meditate, something none of the crew had known her to ever do, she was usually too pragmatic and productive to do something that yielded so little production. Wrex and Krotok had moved outside the clinic to keep watch for any more attackers.

The three remaining crew members were too engaged in their own thoughts to talk to each other. Their attention was quickly seized by a soft ping from the operating room, their eyes all magnetized to the spinning interface as the door slid open to reveal the orange skinned salarian doctor with what they all hoped was a satisfied expression on his face. Tali stopped her pacing and found her nervousness overcoming her again. Her heart beat increased, as if threatening to burst out of her chest. Seconds turned to minutes as the doctor walked towards the group while humming a lighthearted tune softly.

Tali wanted to scream at him and tell him to stop humming and just tell her how Jon was, instead she waited silently, unable to find her voice and afraid she was going to collapse again. The doctor stopped his humming as he made it to the center of the waiting room, in ear shot of the crew; Liara and Garrus stood up and moved closer to him as he spoke.

"Patient is stable now." The doctor took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he let out a breath of satisfaction.

The good news hit the crew with a wave of relief as they all let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.

"How is he, though?" Tali asked impatiently, she was relieved that he was alive but as a quarian was well aware that it was a long walk between alive and well, and she made no mistake of ignoring that with her bondmate. The doctor slid his glance over to her and met her gaze with a small smile on his face. His head nodded as he verbally listed off the injuries and his current condition as if he was reading it directly off of a checklist on his omni-tool.

"Apologize for long surgery, patient was in severe condition upon arrival. Took quite some time to prevent exsanguination. Patient lost almost two thirds of his blood, would cause death to most. Managed to repair damage done to right kidney, however had to remove gallbladder, could not repair, luckily humans can live without. The second shot went through and through and caused minimal damage, shattered four ribs, reset now." The rapid fire prognosis was fired off at the crew as they listened to each of his words hoping to whoever they could that none of it was permanent. The doctor continued on, unaware of their anxiety.

"The third shot-" He took a deep breath, and slightly shook his head as if repelling an image from his mind. He then proceeded to give the report to the crew.

"The third shot hit the upper side of his lung, caused it to collapse. Was able to repair lung and chest cavity. However, a full recovery may not be definite. His lung was severely damaged, he will be unable to continue fighting if he does not make a full recovery. Only time and a rigorous schedule of physical therapy will tell." Tali didn't know how to take the news, the only thing it made her want to do was see him for herself. To be with him again and know with her own eyes that he was alright. She knew he would not handle the news well, it would devastate him.

"I'm sorry, it was the best I could do." The doctor finished with a shamed look, accompanied with a frown on his face. Tali was surprised to see his sense of failure, she couldn't see how he looked down on this as a failure. He had saved Jon in a situation where he almost certainly would have died, and somehow he was ashamed of Jon potentially not making a full recovery.

Reaching up she placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her in response, the frown over his large eyes ever more apparent, indicating a much deeper pain than one slightly failed surgery in his eyes.

"Thank you, doctor. I'm sure you did everything you could." She comforted him, his frown slightly dissipated at Talis sincere voice. His brow lifted on his orange reptilian skin and he nodded confidently in response.

"Yes. Would not give any less for a former patient of Quinn Shepard." Tali cocked her head slightly, surprised that he knew Quinn specifically, who had managed to stay out of the spotlight after the battle on the Citadel.

"You knew Quinn?" Liara asked with incredulity, surprised that the doctor who turned to her then looked between the three of them as he spoke.

"Yes, read her dissertation paper. Did extensive research on her during work with STG, was a candidate for a collaborative research project on a classified subject. She was an impressive doctor, an impressive person. Shame that she died." He finished his rant somberly, bowing his head at the end as if in remembrance of the lost. Tali, Garrus, and Liara did the same on their own accord. Garrus replied, his metal tinged voice almost quivering, this was the first time they had really talked of Quinn since her death.

"Yeah…" Silence followed before Garrus continued and Tali felt tears welling up as she remembered the last time she had actually talked to Quinn, when the crew of the Normandy was on their way to Ilos. Into what they all thought they might not make it out of. Quinn had been there as well as Jon to comfort her and encourage her, something Tali knew they had done to all the other crew members. Tali looked at Quinn as family, and now she was gone, and she had almost just lost Jon as well.

"...It is a shame."

* * *

**Well I'm back! Sorry for the delay, I've been incredibly busy with school work and personal stuff and things. There may no longer be a schedule for the upcoming chapters but know that I am not abandoning this story no matter how long it takes me to post a chapter. I refuse to be the guy that does not finish a story. Anyways, thanks for the wait and enjoy! Also don't kill me about the medical stuff, I'm not very good at it so I try my best to be as vague as possible about it. **


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